A new law that would strengthen punishments for cat and dog theft is expected to be backed by the Government.
Conservative MP Anna Firth’s Pet Abduction Bill would create a specific crime of animal theft punishable by up to five years in prison.
The law is set to be debated in the House of Commons on Friday, and ministers are understood to be “very sympathetic” to the plan.
Pets are currently considered property under the law and stealing them is covered by the 1968 Theft Act in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Ms Firth, who serves as the MP for Southend West, told the BBC that low prosecution rates for animal abduction made it a “low-risk, high-reward crime”.
A report by animal rights group Pet Theft Awareness revealed that police-recorded cat abductions surged by 40 per cent in 2021 and had more than quadrupled since 2015.
Annabel Berdy, senior advocacy officer at charity Cats Protection, said it is important to that any new criminal offence covers cats as well as dogs.
She told the BBC: "If you included dogs from the outset without cats, given that those are the two companion animals, it might drive exploitative criminals or people looking to steal animals for money towards cats."
The law should also recognise "the very similar emotional value and attachment that owners will have with their cats, as they do with dogs", she added.
It comes after Conservative MPs criticised the Government for failing to deliver on animal welfare commitments included a now-scrapped bill last year.
The Animal Welfare Bill, which would have cracked down on puppy smuggling, banned live animal exports for fattening and slaughter and helped tackle pet abduction, was scrapped last May, nearly twoyears after it was first introduced.
Labour made an unsuccessful bid to bring back the legislation, but its vote on the matter failed to gain the support of a single Tory MP.
Leading Conservative politicians used the debate last June to condemn the Government for allowing the animal rights bill to fall by the wayside.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, told MPs that "we shouldn't have found ourselves in a situation where this bill had to be dumped and we have to start all over again".
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a former Tory minister, said she was "immensely disappointed", adding that "the public want us to deliver" the bill.
They were among the 99 Conservative MPs to abstain from the vote to revive the legislation, with a further 181 MPs voting for it and 252 against.
