During the Covid-19 pandemic I have been contacted by residents related to issues of pet theft. Fordham councillors Julia Huffer and Josh Schumann and I met with Cambridgeshire Constabulary to press for more action to be taken at a local level. In addition I have raised this issue with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Justice and the Home Office on behalf of my constituents.
I am pleased that the Government have listened to our concerns and those of others around the country and have launched a Pet Theft Taskforce which will investigate the recent reported rise in pet theft since the start of lockdown. The new Taskforce has been set up to gather evidence to understand the factors that may be contributing to any perceived rise in thefts and to recommend any necessary measures to tackle the problem. The Taskforce will learn lessons from successes in tackling other types of theft, such as mobile phone or metal theft, and how to clamp down most effectively on this illegal market and those engaged in it. The Taskforce will aim to report on the findings and publish its recommendations in the autumn this year.
More details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/taskforce-launched-to-investigate-re…
