By “street cats” I mean a domestic cat walking around the street, on the pavement or sidewalk because they are indoor/outdoor cats. As you may know the UK Parliament is currently debating a new law called the Pet Abduction Bill which is intended to improve upon the Theft Act 1968 in respect of the theft of pets because the Theft Act treats companion animals as inanimate objects firstly and secondly it doesn’t take into account the emotional distress when a pet is stolen.
Pet Abduction Bill
The Pet Abduction was introduced to rectify these deficiencies in the current law in the UK after a campaign by animal advocates. It is broadly welcome although some people have said that it is unnecessary.
It’s been claimed by The Telegraph newspaper that an interaction with a cat on the street may be construed as inducing the cat to accompany that person which may in turn make the behaviour of the person a crime under this legislation when it becomes an Act of Parliament which, I understand, is expected to happen.
Wording
The bill contains a clause which states that a person may be found guilty of cat abduction if they are “causing or inducing the cat to accompany the person or anyone else” or “causing the cat to be taken”.
Perhaps this claimed weakness in the drafting is with the phrase “inducing the cat to accompany the person”. Perhaps they will redraft the wording (but I don’t think it needs redrafting) to make it clear that a casual interaction between a stranger and a cat in public in which the person might initially encourage the cat to accompany them for a short walk, is not a crime. Or if the person feels that the cat needs to be looked after temporarily because they appear to be abandoned.
Apparently, there is a discussion on social media about this. Some critics have said that it might land an innocent and kind person in jail. I think the concerns are totally unwarranted. There are some jokes about it from barristers. For example, barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind told her 68,000 followers on X: “Me, hanging out my garden door shaking a packet of Dreamies, ‘DEFINE INDUCEMENT’.”
Anna Firth, the Conservative MP for Southend West who is sponsoring legislation said in Parliament last month that detaining a cat would not be an offence as cats are “more free-roaming than dogs”. I’m not sure what she means. She adds that the wording:
“Avoids criminalising well-meaning behaviour, where a person looks after a cat that they thought was stray, abandoned or lost. That is the ‘Granny Meow’ difference, which was much discussed on second reading.”
Anna Firth
At the moment it seems that it is unclear if a neighbour, for example, might be prosecuted under this legislation for acts borne out of pure goodwill. If they were prosecuted, they could use their intentions in their defence but the issue is that you don’t want to be prosecuted and dragged into the criminal courts.
Partners split
The Telegraph tells me that the proposed law protects those who take a cat from someone they previously lived with. I suspect this refers to the situation when a cat is owned by a couple and one of them takes the cat when they split up. This cannot be construed as theft under this legislation unless there is evidence to the contrary.
Kindly old ladies
In a Commons debate, Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative former minister said that he was concerned that “very kindly old ladies” might be prosecuted for taking stray cats but apparently there is a defence of “readable excuse” according to Anna Firth.
General theft increase
Pet theft rose dramatically after Covid and it is a genuine issue in the country as is theft in general with some horrendous stories of outrageous acts of theft from food supermarkets for which the police can be blamed as they have washed their hands of dealing with shop theft for donkey’s years. Ignore crime and these are the consequences.
