Animal Law

Expert Animal Law Solicitors in the UK

The UK is a nation of animal lovers and to ensure their safety and wellbeing, as well as protecting people from animal attacks, there are strict laws around the control and treatment of animals. If your dog has injured another person or animal and you are facing criminal charges, our Animal Law Solicitors understand you may be frightened and highly anxious that your beloved pet will be destroyed. We can provide you with a strategic, carefully considered, persuasive defence. We can provide advice and represent people charged with other animal-related offences, including:

  • Livestock worrying
  • Livestock theft
  • Hunting with dogs
  • Animal cruelty
  • Banned dogs
  • Dog theft
  • Wildlife crime, including poaching, introducing invasive species, and illegal fishing

Our Animal Law Solicitors have extensive experience in defending animal law crimes and will carefully listen to your side of the story as well as collect and analyse the police’s evidence against you. By choosing us, you can trust that we’ll always focus on protecting your best interests, and those of your animal, and provide you with the best criminal defence available.

Jennifer Kabala - Reeds Solicitors
Jenny Kabała

Associate Solicitor

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How we can help

At Reeds Solicitors, our team of leading in-house Barristers and Criminal Defence Solicitors are frequently instructed to represent people charged with animal law offences, and as such have developed a wealth of experience in this highly specialised area of criminal law.

Our Solicitors are regularly mentioned in the Legal 500 and in 2023, we were named one of the UK’s top law firms by The Times, specially commended for criminal law.

If you are charged with committing an animal law offence, we will consider the police evidence and build a defence based on witness statements, forensics, details of the crime scene, and expert evidence concerning the circumstances surrounding the event that led to you being charged.

We know that being charged with a criminal offence may have turned your life upside down. You can rely on us to take the stress and worry of a criminal trial off your shoulders. Our team will be by your side throughout the entire process, supporting you and your family, and doing everything possible to achieve a positive outcome.

By instructing Reeds Solicitors, you can trust that we’ll:

  • Find out the suspicions the police have regarding your involvement in the animal-related offence and any evidence they have concerning those suspicions.
  • If you have been arrested, analyse the custody record, and talk with the Custody Officer to ensure proper police procedure was followed.
  • Attend a police interview under caution to provide you with legal advice and ensure the interviewer does not exceed their powers and follows the Code of Practice that sets out how an interview under caution should be conducted.

Our Animal Law team will:

  • Instruct expert Criminal Defence Barristers/King’s Counsel, where appropriate, and attend Court, as well as provide you with advice and support when required, including whether to plead guilty or not guilty.
  • If you are found guilty, we will prepare submissions to the Court to mitigate the severity of the sentence handed down. We will also advise you on whether there are grounds to appeal the Judge or jury’s decision.

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FAQ

Animal law is the law governing the protection and control of animals. It includes law surrounding the treatment of animals in fields such as agriculture, hunting, medical testing, and the domestic ownership of animals.

The main legislation for animal law is the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This consolidated various pieces of legislation, including the Protection of Animals Act 1934. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 introduced tougher penalties for negligence and cruelty, including lifetime bans on keeping pets, fines of up to £20,000, and maximum jail terms.

The Dangerous Dog Act (DDA) 1991 makes it an offence for a dog to be “dangerously out of control”. The law covers public and private property, including homes and gardens.

According to section 10(3) of the DDA 1991, a dog will be deemed “dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person or assistance dog, whether or not it actually does so”.

The penalties for causing or allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control dog are severe, and include:

  • An unlimited fine and/or a six month prison sentence if your dog is dangerously out of control.
  • Up to five years in prison and/or a fine if you dog injures someone.
  • Up to 14 years in prison and/or a fine if your dog kills another person.
  • Up to three years in prison and/or a fine if your dog injures an assistance dog.

In addition to any sentence impose on the owner or person in charge of the dog at the material time, the court will need to consider whether the dog should be put to sleep, whether the dog should be taken away from the owner or whether the owner should be disqualified from having dogs altogether.

It is against the law in the UK to own, breed, abandon, or give away the following dog breeds:

  • Pit Bull Terrier
  • Japanese Tosa
  • Dogo Argentino
  • Fila Brasileiro

As of 1st February 2024, XL Bully dogs were also banned in England and Wales.

It is important to note that when deciding whether a particular dog is banned, authorities will decide based on what the animal looks like as opposed to its breed or name – although there are some exceptions to this, concerning the recent ban of XL Bully dogs. It is your responsibility to prove that your dog is not a banned type.

 

The Court can give you a Certificate of Exemption if it is persuaded that your banned dog is not dangerous to the public. This will allow you to keep the animal under the following conditions:

Your dogs must be:

  • neutered
  • fitted with a microchip
  • leashed and muzzled at all times when in public
  • not able to escape your premises

As the owner, you must:

  • maintain suitable third-party insurance in case your dog hurts someone throughout the lifetime of your dog
  • be aged over 16 (when in public, the lead of the dog must be held by a person of at least 16 years of age)
  • show the Certificate of Exemption when asked by a police officer or council dog warden, either at the time or within five days
  • Keep the dog at the same address as the certificate holder, except for a maximum of 30 days in a year;
  • Notify the Index of any change of address, excluding changes within the 30-day period
  • Notify the Index if the dog dies or is exported from the UK
  • Keep the dog in sufficiently secure conditions to prevent the dog’s escape;
    • (h) Provide confirmation of suitable third-party insurance to a police constable or authorised local authority officer within 5 days of their request;
    • (i) Provide the Certificate of Exemption to a police constable or authorised local authority officer within 5 days of their request.

Whilst your dog is exempt, it remains illegal for you to breed, sell/exchange, advertise or expose it for sale, give it as a gift or advertise it as a gift, abandon it or allow it to stray.

What this means in practice is that you will not be able to dispose of the dog to any other person or organisation, unless you apply to change the keepership of the dog first.

There are stringent restrictions on when such applications will be allowed; namely that the owner must either have died or become seriously ill – rendering them unable to be in charge of the dog. In practice, this means that many owners are forced to put their dogs to sleep.

If you breach any of the conditions of the Certificate of Exemption, this could render the exemption invalid, leading to a criminal prosecution (resulting in a criminal conviction) and your dog being seized and (possibly) destroyed by police.

 

Our Animal Law Solicitors have the expertise and experience required to advise and represent you. Please contact us through our contact page here. Alternatively, you can phone 0333 240 7373, or email us at info@reeds.co.uk.