"Judges and magistrates sentence according to the law set by Parliament and the sentencing guidelines set by the independent Sentencing Council."
"If handlers even manage to secure a charge, the sentences that are passed are so low,"
"I know that getting maximum sentences is very hard, but we're not getting even six or nine-month sentences when some of these dogs have been horrifically attacked."
"We've had a four-week sentence handed out - it's almost like, why bother? Where is the deterrent factor in a four-week sentence?"
Finn's law, officially the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill, was passed in 2019 and increased the maximum prison sentence for the most serious animal cruelty in England and Wales to five years. The law was named after German shepherd Finn, who suffered near-fatal injuries while protecting a police officer in 2016. Many handlers report difficulty securing prosecutions for attacks on service animals and widespread concern that sentences for convictions are disproportionately low. Reported custodial sentences for attackers have included 12-week, 10-week and four-week terms for convicted offenders. An open letter questioned whether the law is being applied "as Parliament intended" and the Crown Prosecution Service responded to the concerns.
Read at www.bbc.com
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