Police chiefs call for change in prosecutions
'It ought to be right that the primary enforcer with responsibility for this area should be a single agency, preferably a statutory body funded by Government'.
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has called for offences under the Animal Welfare Act to be prosecuted by a single, government-funded agency. Currently, the RSPCA is responsible for more than 80 per cent of proceedings.
Submitting evidence to a government inquiry, the NPCC said it had 'some concerns' about the enforcement of the act. As it does not make any one agency ultimately responsible or accountable, enforcement activity is inconsistent across the country.
There is currently no statutory duty and many police forces signpost reports of animal welfare to the RSPCA and only provide a police response in emergency cases.
Similarly, local authorities in the West Midlands are set to stop handling animal welfare cases, which will instead be signposted to the RSPCA.
In its written submission, the NPCC wrote: 'For some considerable time the RSPCA have assumed the default role of prosecutor for offences under the Act and have done so outside of a statutory framework with no powers.
'Their long standing good work and expertise in this area should of course be recognised but it ought to be right that the primary enforcer with responsibility for this area should be a single agency, preferably a statutory body funded by Government.
'With this would come greater governance and accountability along with a right to review prosecution decisions in line with all other criminal offences.'
The RSPCA said its prosecution work saves the taxpayer around £43 million a year. Last year saw 796 defendants convicted of 1,781 animal cruelty offences, with a success rate of 92.4 per cent.
'It has largely fallen to the RSPCA to ensure that the Animal Welfare Act is adequately enforced in relation to domestic animals,' the charity said in a statement. 'Local authority enforcement has, if anything, reduced further in the past few years.
'Whilst the RSPCA is not against statutory enforcement we wonder which public body has the expertise, experience and money needed to take this forward at a time when public spending is being cut.'
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
