THE maximum jail sentence for cases of animal cruelty should be raised to five years, according to campaigners.
Animal welfare charities say the current maximum jail term of 12 months does not act as a tough enough deterrent and should be increased five-fold.
It comes as an animal sanctuary boss was jailed for eight months for neglecting dogs she was supposed to be looking after and also stockpiled dead animals in a chest freezer.
Zara Brown, 29, charged owners to take their dogs in to her care at her Ayrshire Ark refuge, adopting animals if they were unwell or if their owners could no longer look after them.
But she failed to give them adequate food and water and abandoned them in a dingy, derelict primary school with no lights and an overpowering stench of faeces and urine.
When inspectors from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals searched the premises, they found a dead dog lying on the floor and seven dead dogs and a cat shoved in a chest freezer.
Yesterday the mother-of-four was jailed and banned from keeping animals for life when she appeared for sentence at Ayr Sheriff Court. She pled guilty last month to neglecting eight dogs so badly she caused them unnecessary suffering.
Brown ran her Ayrshire Ark refuge from the former St Xavier’s Primary School in Patna, Ayrshire.
The court heard that some dogs were simply left to die in the dilapidated and remote building, while others were shoved in a chest freezer rather than being buried or given back to their owners to allow them to make final arrangements.
The dogs were forced to clamber over mountains of rubbish, debris and building materials and had no clean areas to go to.
Yesterday the Scottish SPCA welcomed the sentence but called for the maximum jail sentence to be increased under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “We feel the current maximum sentence in Scotland for animal cruelty offences doesn’t act as a deterrent since very few sheriffs’ use the maximum sentence.
“In 2016 our investigations led to 33 bans on keeping animals, including five life bans, 25 fines, 13 community payback orders and only three jail sentences.
“There are large inconsistencies in animal cruelty sentencing throughout Scotland, which we would like to see addressed, and we feel a five-year maximum jail sentence would provide the sheriff with a greater range of options.”
The call was backed by MSPs who have vowed to look at the sentencing increase.
Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, said: “When trusted expert organisations such as the Scottish SPCA point out areas where the law could be improved, I think that it’s incumbent upon us all to listen to them and consider their advice carefully.
Margaret Mitchell MSP for Central Scotland added: “The abuse often results from a thriving illegal business where perpetrators can make big money whilst keeping defenceless animals in appalling conditions. “
Brown showed no emotion when her catalogue of neglect was revealed last week during a hearing at Ayr Sheriff Court.
Speaking after Brown was jailed, Scottish SPCA inspector Leanne McPake said: “As an inspector who deals with animal cruelty we expect to see horrible things. However this case was particularly harrowing and will stay with us for a long time.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article