Good news from England on today’s World Animal Day.

The local Environment Minister, Michael Gove, has recently confirmed that the prison sentence for the worst forms of animal cruelty in England will be increased from six months to five years. The innovation followed the statements of some judges and judicial officials who complained that they could not impose harsher penalties on those who had committed extreme cruelty to animals. It puts England on a par with Northern Ireland and Ireland and was welcomed unanimously. The Scottish Government has also recently agreed to increase the maximum sentence for the most serious cases of animal cruelty to five years‘ imprisonment.