§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that a lieutenant at the Salvation Army barracks, at Great Peter Street, recently baked a cat alive by means of placing it in a steam oven; whether he is aware that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, having satisfied itself of the facts, is precluded from taking any proceedings in view of the provision of the Cruelty to Animals Act requiring proceedings to be taken within one month of the date of the offence; and whether he will consider the necessity for bringing about an alteration in the law?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe attention of my right hon. Friend had not been drawn to this case until the hon. Member wrote to him about it on Monday last. He has made inquiries, and is informed that, when it was found necessary to kill the cat it was placed in a fumigating oven to which steam was applied at a very high pressure. It was submitted that the intention was to kill it as quickly and in as humane a, way as possible. If there had been a prosecution it is very doubtful if a conviction would have been obtained in lack of evidence that there was intentional cruelty. As stated in the question, proceedings under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1847, must be taken within one month of the offence, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals state that this period is generally sufficient.
§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYHas the hon. Gentleman seen the official communication from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to the effect that but for the statutory disqualification they would certainly have prosecuted the officer of the Salvation Army for brutal cruelty?
§ Mr. GREENWOODDid the hon. Gentleman get the information from the secretary, because we in the society are particularly dissatisfied in this matter?
§ Mr. MASTERMANYes. I have seen a letter and I have received information to the effect that on the whole the society regard a month as sufficient. They cannot give us any case in recent times in which the period of a month was not sufficient. That is the information I have received.
§ Mr. GREENWOODFrom the Secretary?
§ Mr. MASTERMANI think so, but I will make inquiry. As to the general practice I am not in a position to make a statement that the information I have received is correct, or whether the information of the hon. Member is correct. There is no doubt about the prosecution; I obtained that as a result of the police inquiry.
§ Sir F. BANBURYWill the hon. Gentleman ascertain from whom he did obtain the information?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe information from the police is as to actual facts. The statement as to the opinion of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that a month is sufficient was, I think, an official letter from the Secretary, but I will certainly inquire further and give the information.