Tory MP Mark Spencer told BuzzFeed News that magistrates are too soft on animal poisoners. He said 22 cats were killed with antifreeze in one village in his constituency last summer.
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He spoke out in parliament after 22 cats were killed in a suspected poisoning with antifreeze in a village in his constituency of Sherwood, Nottinghamshire last year. No one has been arrested in the incidents.
Spencer told how ethylene glycol, the toxic ingredient in antifreeze, attacks a cat's kidneys and causes a "slow and painful" death.
Current UK sentencing guidelines for attempts to kill an animal by poisoning recommend a maximum of six months in prison and/or a fine of up to £5,000. That compares to five years in Australia and three years in Germany and the Netherlands for similar crimes.
Spencer said sentencing in Britain should be much tougher to create a "real deterrent". He told a Westminster Hall debate on Thursday that no-one had ever been given a prison term for "the deliberate and malicious poisoning of a domestic cat".
He pointed to the case of a pensioner who poisoned five of his neighbours' cats and was handed a £125 fine. "To put that into context, that is probably not even the commercial value of one of the cats, never mind the emotional trauma experienced by the poor families and the animals themselves," he added.
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