PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Animal Welfare: Prosecutions (16 January 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 were heard at magistrates' courts in England and Wales in (a) 2014, (b) 2015 and (c) 2016.

Asked by:
Anna Turley (Labour)

The number of proceedings heard at magistrates’ courts, and those which were found guilty, sentenced and had a fine imposed under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in England and Wales, 2014 and 2015 can be viewed below.

Court proceedings data for 2016 are planned for publication in May 2017.

Outcome	2014	2015
Proceeded against	1,433	1,103
Found Guilty	1,080	831
Sentenced	1,078	833
of which Fine	219	143

The table includes the following offences:

1. Animal Welfare Act 2006 Section 4(1)(2), 5(a)(b)32(1)(2(40), 6(1)(a)(b)2,8,9,12, 7(a)(b)2, 8(1)(a to i),(2), 9, 11(1)(3), 13(6), 18(12),34(9)

2. The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

3. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

4. The numbers of offenders sentenced and found guilty in the same year may differ due to some being sentenced the following year.

Answered by:
George Eustice (Conservative)
24 January 2017