Northern Ireland is set to have the toughest penalties for animal cruelty of anywhere in the UK or Ireland, Stormont Ministers have claimed, ahead of an announcement today of a crackdown against offenders.
The Assembly recently voted for a law change, as part of the new Justice Bill, that will increase the maximum penalty for the most serious animal cruelty offences from two years in jail to five.
As a consequence of an animal welfare review, which makes 68 recommendations and is to be published today, new powers are also to be handed to Northern Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions to enable the appeal of animal cruelty sentences on the grounds of undue leniency.