A host of top comedians have joined Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to call for stronger animal cruelty sentences.

The harshest sentence an animal abuser can receive is six months in prison, no matter what the crime.

Paul O'Grady, Ricky Gervais, Sue Perkins, Harry Hill and Tracey Ullman are backing Battersea's campaign for the maximum sentence for the most severe animal cruelty offences to be increased to five years.

They are urging the public to join the 33,978 people who have already pledged their support and emailed their MP to call for tougher punishments.

Battersea’s Ambassador and the face of its award-winning TV show For the Love of Dogs, Paul O’Grady, said: “There's nothing like looking into an animal's eyes to see how innocent and trusting they are, and it makes me angry to see the way some people mistreat and abuse them.

“I can't stand by and watch while those responsible for the most terrible suffering are unlikely to get more than a few weeks in prison.

“What's to stop them doing it again?”

“Ricky Gervais added: “It’s sickening to hear about innocent dogs and cats enduring terrible suffering at the hands of humans and knowing the law does nothing to protect them, or deter people from committing these acts of cruelty.

“Six months in prison is nowhere near long enough for people who choose to abuse, torture and kill animals. You could get more for fly-tipping.”

Battersea launched the campaign at Westminster in February, publishing research that revealed England and Wales’ current six-month maximum prison sentence is the lowest sentence for animal cruelty across the whole of Europe, the United States and Australia.

In comparison, the maximum sentence for commercial fly-tipping is five years in prison.

In March this year, a Devon fly-tipper was sentenced to 20 months, while weeks later a Wirral man who admitted stabbing and burning a dog alive was jailed for 24 weeks.

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