Essex campaigner backs Anna Firth MP on pet abduction law

The co-founder of a group that helps reunite owners with lost dogs is backing attempts by her MP to make pet abduction a new criminal offence.

Anna Firth, Conservative MP for Southend West, hopes a new law would make police take it more seriously.

Ann Cushion, co-founder of Tilly's Angels, said it would also recognise the "horrendous" impact on owners.

Ms Firth's Pet Abduction Bill will be debated in the House of Commons on Friday.

The bill, which will need government support if it is to succeed, has been backed by MPs of all parties.

It is already a criminal offence to steal a pet under the Theft Act of 1968, with a maximum jail term of seven years for those convicted.

However, campaigners have long argued that pet abduction should be a named offence with greater powers of sentence.

Ms Cushion, of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, had her four dogs stolen from her car in 2021.

"I left them in their crates for 20 minutes, and when I came back the doors were open and the dogs were gone," she said.

"It was an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I felt desperate and empty."

She said social media posts about the thefts led to her dogs being abandoned close to her home.

"Our experience is that the police have such a long list of things to do that pet theft is not high on their agenda," she said.

"If the law changes so that when dogs and cats are stolen it's called an abduction, rather than theft, it'll hopefully raise it on their list.

"The penalties would also take into account the effect this has on the owners, which is just horrendous."

Ms Firth has drawn up a private members' bill that would toughen up the law on pet thefts.

"Taking a pet is a particularly cruel crime, but it adds insult to injury when a devastated family calls the police and they do very little about it, because the pet is considered as no more significant than a power tool or mobile phone under the present law," she said.

"Anyone who has had a cat or a dog knows that they are members of your family."

Ms Firth added that seven in 10 pet thefts recorded by police involved dogs.

The bill would initially relate to the unlawful taking of a dog or cat, but could be amended to apply to other pets.

As a private members' bill, it does not stand much chance of becoming law.

However, the government promised in 2021 to make pet abduction an offence and Ms Firth said she was "fully expecting" ministerial support.

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