Cruel leniency

AS a nation of pet lovers, Brits will be dismayed to learn our sentences for sick thugs who abuse animals are among the most lenient in the Western world.

Something is badly wrong when a man who burned his dog alive gets just four weeks longer in the clink than a man jailed for fly-tipping. It is time for Government to intervene.

In Ireland animal abusers face five years for the worst offences. We should be no different.

So we welcome the new campaign launched by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and backed by Britain’s very best comedians. For the sick abuse of animals is no laughing matter.