Cat theft is on the up and campaigners want perpetrators punished

The new offence of ‘Pet Abduction,’ which has been recommended by the new Pet Theft Taskforce set up by the Government as a response to dramatic increased in the phenomenon during the pandemic, does not include cats.

Abducting dogs is already included under the offence, however campaign group Pet Theft Awareness believe that, in light of these statistics from 38 constabularies, cat theft should also be covered.

Spokesperson for the group, Toni Clarke, said: “Pets are family and the bond we share has never been dependent on what species we take into our hearts and homes.

We are their familiarity, comfort and caregivers so should it really matter whether five, six or seven thefts are dogs, cats or horses when we absolutely know that 10-out-of-10 suffer?"

Toni Clarke with her cat, Clooney, who was stolen

Co-founders Richard Jordan and Arnot Wilson say, “We feel that the offence of pet abduction should be based on sentience not statistics and that we should not discriminate when all pets have the capacity to suffer equally.”