With UK Animal cruelty on increase, this came as great news today!

Overhaul for UK animal welfare laws
The biggest crackdown on animal cruelty for nearly a century has been unveiled by the UK government.
• It will allow RSPCA inspectors to intervene earlier when there is a risk of cruelty and raise maximum sentences for such offences.
• Funfairs will no longer be able to give animals, including goldfish, as prizes, the draft Animal Welfare Bill states.
• Children under 16 will be banned from buying a pet, and cosmetic docking of dogs’ tails will be outlawed.

Under the new law, owners will be given a “duty of care”. The draft Bill obliges the keeper of an animal to ensure its welfare by:
• Providing a suitable environment
• Providing adequate food and water
• Allowing it to exhibit normal behaviour
• Allowing it to be housed with/apart from its own or other species
• Allowing appropriate protection from and diagnosis and treatment of pain, injury and disease.

Maximum penalties will be increased from a six-month jail term and a £5,000 fine to a 51-week prison sentence and a £20,000 fine. The RSPCA hopes these provisions will be used to ban the use of animals in circuses which “due to their transient nature, cannot guarantee an ongoing high standard of care”.