Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Reveals Major Achievements
With 2022 promising even more advances in pet welfare
One happy chappy. Picture: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
Following an intense year of campaigning in 2021, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is to continue fighting for dogs and cats in 2022 by backing new laws to regulate animal rescues and improve the conditions in which cats and dogs are imported into this country.
The charity is also going to be pushing for better pet policies in rented housing in 2022, in particular by looking at issues facing pet owners in the private rented housing market.
2021 saw the charity take major steps forward in dog and cat welfare, despite continued disruption caused by the pandemic.
Following years of campaigning by Battersea and its supporters, a new law in England and Wales finally came into force in the summer of 2021 raising the maximum possible sentence for acts of animal cruelty from six months to five years. This followed a similar change in Scotland in 2020 and means that animals all over the UK are now protected by a law that can properly penalise animal abusers.
“We first launched our campaign in 2017 and have been lobbying the Government for change ever since. We would also like to thank everyone who emailed MPs and Ministers and told friends and family about our campaign; we could never have realised this success without you,” says Battersea.
Major advances were also made in the area of pet theft law. With the pandemic bringing alarming news stories of stolen dogs increasing owners’ fears of their beloved pet being stolen, Battersea research showed that in certain areas of the country dog theft has become more prevalent. However pets are currently classed in law as property, so the punishment for stealing a pet is largely based on its monetary value.
As a result of concerns raised by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and other campaigners, the Government recently announced that pet abduction would become a separate offence to the theft of inanimate objects. “This is a welcome step towards recognising the significant emotional distress caused by losing a pet in this way,” says the Home.
Outside Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Picture: Google Streetview
In May the Government launched its Action Plan for Animal Welfare with a visit to the Battersea Park Road HQ of the Dogs and Cats Home. This new strategy sets out ambitions for animal welfare, including tackling puppy smuggling and regulating the rescue and rehoming sector. Battersea are now working closely with MPs and Peers to shape and improve a number of associated pieces of legislation, and will be looking for supporters to get involved with this process in 2022.
Last year marked five years since it became compulsory to microchip your dog, and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home has kept track of the impact of microchipping and how it affects stray dogs, by conducting a yearly survey of local authorities from across the UK. The 2021 report found that only 26 per cent of stray dogs had microchips with up-to-date, accurate data. And 23 per cent of stray dogs still did not have a microchip implanted at all. “There’s clearly still work to be done,” says the Home, “And Battersea has been working directly with the Government on their review of the effectiveness of dog microchipping.”
Meanwhile Battersea has also long been pushing for a similar requirement for owners to microchip their cats, with a big breakthrough coming right at the end of the year. In December the government announced that it will bring forward a new law to require cats to be microchipped. Battersea comments that, “We are looking forward to helping this move forward in 2022.”
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January 19, 2022