Thank you for contacting me about dog fighting. I would like to assure you that my ministerial colleagues and I are completely opposed to dog fighting and tough penalties apply to those involved in this abhorrent activity.
Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is an offence to be involved in, or promote, an animal fight. In 2021, the Government passed the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act, which increased the sentences available to courts for the most serious cases of animal cruelty. The maximum penalty for this offence is now five years’ imprisonment, or an unlimited fine, or both.
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