Ministers sign off on higher prison sentence for animal abusers

The government will increase the maximum prison sentence for animal abuse from three to a maximum five years, and introduce a registry of convicted abusers to prevent them from keeping animals.

The new raft of amendments to animal welfare laws were approved by the Cabinet this week after the closure of a public consultation period on the proposed rules.

Under the new rules, the veterinary services directorate will be granted the power for spot inspections on premises and farms that keep animals, allowing the directorate greater discretion that it had in its investigations.

The amendments are separate as yet unfinished work on zoo legislation, two years since a 2020 proposal to ban bigcat cub petting inside zoos.

The proposal was withdrawn following outrage by the zookeeper Anton Cutajar.

Zoo regulations have so far remained the same despite the White Paper proposals. Under the proposed animal welfare rules, local councils will deploy their own animal welfare stewards to educate animal owners on their legal obligations.

The strategy calls for potential pet owners to be made aware of the breed-specific requirements before owning or adopting certain animals.

Potential owners will be made aware of the potential costs associated with owning certain breeds to avoid unsustainable financial burdens which would be detrimental to animal health.