Petition · past parliament

Make the punishment for animal abuse equal to the punishment for child abuse.

Rejected 10 signatures

What the petition asks

The current sentence for animal abuse is not enough because like children, animals are vulnerable. The punishment of being banned from owning an animal for ten years along with a small amount of jail time is not justice! After all is there really difference between animal abuse and child abuse?

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

There are many different offences involved in child abuse which carry different sentences depending on specific circumstances. You can view the full list of offences here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/509614/domestic-violence-child-abuse-offences.pdf

You could start a new petition asking for a Parliament to change the law, to require a specific minimum sentence to be given to people found guilty of animal abuse.

Timeline

15 Sep 2017 Petition opened for signatures
19 Oct 2017 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 10
Status Rejected
Rejected 19 Oct 2017

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.