§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many reported cases of cruelty to animals have led to(a) prosecution and (b) conviction for each of the last five years;
(2) how many reported cases of cruelty to animals involving equines led to (a) prosecution and (b) conviction for each of the last five years;
(3) how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have been made under the Animals Act 1911 for each of the last five years;
(4) how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have been made under the Animals Act 1911 for each of the last five years for cases involving equines;
(5) how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have been made under the Animals Act 1911 for each of the last five years in relation to tethering of equines;
(6) how many reported cases of cruelty to animals there have been for each of the last five years;
(7) how many reported cases of cruelty to animals for each of the last five years involved equines.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe only readily available information relates to all court proceedings in respect of offences relating to cruelty to animals and is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, Supplementary tables, Vol 1", copies of which are in the Library, under offence classification 108. Those proceedings under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 are given in the table below. Details of the animals involved in such offences and the circumstances of the offence are not collected centrally.
Defendants proceeded against and found guilty of offences under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 England and Wales Year Total proceeded against Total found guilty 1982 820 728 1983 839 747 1984 875 764 1985 989 848 1986 1,026 875