Make catapult attacks against animals a standalone criminal offence

Introduce legislation in England to make it a specific, standalone criminal offence to intentionally or recklessly use, discharge or attempt to discharge a catapult or slingshot at or towards any animal.

Animals including swans, ducks, gulls, pigeons and squirrels have been deliberately targeted with catapults firing stones, ball bearings and other projectiles. Those struck can suffer broken bones, blindness, internal injuries and death.

Existing protections are spread across different laws and may depend on the species and circumstances. We believe the law should be clear and consistent: catapults should never be used as weapons against animals.

This government takes crimes against wildlife seriously and is aware of the ongoing and horrific misuse of catapults against wild animals, as well as domestic pets, other people and property.

Most of the catapult attacks that have been reported to Defra appear to be against wild birds, often on or near to water. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. Within this legislation there are a range of offences making it illegal to deliberately attempt to kill, injure or inflict harm on wild birds such as the swans, ducks, gulls and pigeons listed in the petition. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect wild animals from cruelty, such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Significant sanctions are available to judges to hand down to those convicted of crimes under these Acts. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, a person may face a term of imprisonment of up to six months and/or an unlimited fine for killing or injuring a wild bird or protected wild mammal. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, to cause a ‘kept’ animal any unnecessary suffering can lead to stronger penalties - the maximum for this offence is five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. In fact, to many this represents a disparity between penalties for crimes against wildlife compared with similar offences against kept animals. This government is looking to address this and made a commitment in its 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy to review and look to strengthen penalties for cruelty against wildlife, so they are consistent with the higher levels of sentencing available for offences against pets and livestock. Defra would consider incidents involving catapults that cause unnecessary suffering to wild animals to potentially be in scope of any strengthened penalties.

Defra does recognise that the misuse of catapults is causing great concern to some local communities. The department is working with the Home Office to find solutions and a way forward to protect our wildlife, the public and property from the appalling acts that are reported from across the country. It is also supportive of Operation Lakeshot - a multi-agency response chaired by the League Against Cruel Sports, which is aiming to reduce the level of crimes involving wildlife being killed or injured with powerful catapults.

Defra will continue to keep relevant legislation under review but there are sufficient laws in place to protect wildlife from targeted use of catapults and existing powers are already available for the police to tackle their misuse. Defra therefore has no plans to make catapult attacks against animals a standalone criminal offence.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs