'Tougher sentences needed for those who attack service animals', says former handler
Concerns raised over lenient sentences for attacks on police dogs
A former police dog handler says the law brought in to protect service animals is falling short, as sentences being passed to offenders are too lenient.
Dave Wardell is raising concerns about the effectiveness of ‘Finn's law’ - named after his German shepherd Finn, who was stabbed whilst protecting him in Stevenage in 2016. Finn later died in 2023 at the age of 14.
The law, officially known as the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill, was introduced in 2019, which means that anyone guilty of attacking a service animal can be jailed for up to five years.
Despite the implementation of Finn's law, Wardell says police dog handlers are struggling to achieve 'appropriate sentences' when their animals are attacked.
He said: “We've had instances where offenders have been charged and given home detention orders, four weeks prison time and just recently 10 weeks prison time.
“To some people they might think, that's a lot for a dog, but some of these dogs have been attacked with machetes. They've been bitten, strangled, punched, kicked, stabbed and 10 weeks is not enough.”
“We haven't even got anywhere near the five-year maximum sentence, and we are talking about some horrific attacks on some dogs. That effectively feels like they've gone unpunished”, he adds.
Dave Wardell also says, “the deterrent factor is huge”.
“You want people to know that if they do that attack an animal, that something is going to happen to them and they are going to get some prison time.
“But I think it also shows that we do care about our animals and we certainly care, or should care, about our service animals”.
He added: “They are living, breathing, feeling, animals. They're part of the policing team and quite often they're part of the family as well.
“Let's treat them like that and when one of them gets attacked, let's use the weight of the law. That's what we fought for and that was the intention of Parliament when they passed Finn's Law.”
A spokesperson for the judiciary said: “Judges and magistrates sentence according to the law set by Parliament and the sentencing guidelines set by the independent Sentencing Council, as well as the facts of each case which may have aggravating or mitigating factors.”