Make unlawfully killing a pet an offence akin to murder, not criminal damage

Our family was looking forward to welcoming a new member in May 2024. We imagined our pets, Bono and Shadow, introducing their little sibling to the world. But that dream was shattered when someone intentionally planted rat poison in our garden, taking away one of our beloved pets and putting one into s critical condition. This incident is not just an act of criminal damage; it's akin to murder.
Bono-
He died an excruciating and distressing death, the injuries to his system from the poison we now know were catastrophic. He suffered pain, internal bleeding, kidney failure and organ damage.
"At the end, he managed to climb the stairs, we presume looking for the comfort of his bed in our room. But minutes later we found him dead on the landing, his beautiful big head hanging over the top stair, lifeless.
“I tried to give him CPR but he was gone. We just held him in our arms and cried. There was nothing we could do for our big Bono any more. Emma has rescued him from a life of abuse when he was just four months old and she was 15, and from that moment he never went a single day without love and a walk, ramble or a swim, not until he was poisoned and killed.
The crematorium was beautiful and we were given a peaceful room where Bono’s remains were laid out. It was so sad, we held him and talked to him and Shadow. But right then Shadow started coughing and showing the same symptoms Bono had displayed days earlier.
“We went straight to the vet and tests showed that Shadow’s white blood cells were very low and the vet, who had suspected Bono might have been poisoned, said he was sure now that Shadow had eaten rat poison too.
“And now we faced losing both of them. We had to leave Shadow with the vet for observation and treatment and we went home and into the back garden to see if there could possibly be anything that they could’ve eaten that would have hurt them.
“We were totally shocked. Along the boundary of our garden under leaves and other debris we found 11 large mounds of blue green pellets, soaked by the rain but still clearly visible. It was unmistakable. It was rat poison. We called the police and they examined everything and gave us a crime number and they said they would investigate.
We let the vets know what we had found and were told Shadow was not responding to treatment. There were so many tears, we were confused, angry, upset, grieving and we were scared but we just knew we had to try to get Shadow through this. We told the vet to try anything and everything and he said there was one last shot they could try to increase the Vitamin K1 levels and stop internal bleeding.”
Thankfully Shadow slowly started to turn the corner and two weeks later he is back in his home and gradually picking up. His lungs were damaged by the rat poison but he is no longer coughing up traces of blood and his energy is returning.
Shadow is still with us and recovering slowly but he is so confused. He’s a young dog who'd been used to a companion all of his life, he had been used to long walks and runs every day, being allowed to play and expend all his energy.
“But now Bono, his companion, is gone and the vets have warned us not to allow Shadow to get excited or run or jump because they are afraid of him causing further internal damage.
“We are taking things one day at a time. We are grieving for Bono and our home feels empty even though we have each other and Shadow and our precious baby due in May.
Our dogs were poisoned and we believe they were poisoned deliberately and we want answers and justice for Bono and for our loss and suffering to be acknowledged. Emma and I both believe anyone who deliberately takes the life of an animal in such cruel way should face more than a ticking off or a fine by the council or the police.
“The laws around animal welfare in Northern Ireland need to be changed and it needs to be acknowledged that they are sentient, feeling, loving beings and deserve to be treated with respect and care.”