UK CHARITY Cats Protection has again welcomed a bill that would give animals and their owners more legal protection and help stop pet theft. 

The Pet Abduction Bill, proposed by Conservative MP for Southend West Anna Firth, cleared another hurdle in Parliament today, Friday, April 19. 

“Stolen animals are at high risk of mistreatment, and owners may live in permanent limbo, never knowing what has happened to them or if they’ll ever come home,” Annabel Berdy of Cats Protection said. 

“This new law would finally give pets the full recognition they deserve and help stamp out the criminal activities that prey on much-loved pet cats by onward selling or from breeding kittens to sell.” 

If the bill becomes law, a new and specific offence would also enable police to build an accurate picture of pet theft across England and Northern Ireland by requiring a specific log, as opposed to the current situation where pet theft is recorded as property theft.