Reforming the UK's Outdated Animal Welfare Act

In Stockport England, a woman set an innocent rabbit on fire. The rabbit was dubbed bunny. This is said to have taken place during a family feud. The woman has received what I believe to be a lenient sentence for the crime. I am baffled that for the past six years, the permissive laws have remained the same. I decided to start a petition since I believed that the Welfare Act for animals in the UK, is outdated. It therefore needs to be reviewed and an improved Act that protects the animals adequately put in place. If you share such sentiments please support this campaign. So that we can protect animals and improve their welfare.

Katey Barber the perpetrator is 22 years old. On the fateful day, she spent the night at her family’s home in Stockport in Manchester. She was enjoying beer and had consumed a total of 7 cans when an argument ensued. Katey, went outside and began burning clothes that belonged to the mother’s partner. She later turned her anger to the rabbit that was lying in its hutch. The rabbit had nothing to do with the family feud. She first prodded it with a stick and later threw a piece of paper that was burning

For the past six years, no review has been done on the Animal Welfare Act which I believe is a disgrace. Since the sentence that the act spells out is very lenient. The maximum penalty for such a crime in the current laws would be a jail term of around six years. This sentence is however not executed in practice. With some perpetrators not sentenced at all despite there being evidence that they committed the crime. In some extreme cases, such abusers are allowed to continue keeping pets despite the suffering they cause on animals. I have also encountered other cases whereby abusers walk away scot free with the crime without even a case to answer. This needs to change since the life of animal’s also matters. We therefore need to account for how we handle our animals even if we own