RSPCA reveals annual animal welfare figures for RSPCA Week

By Lauren Gilman

General news

04 May 2011 09:00

We all know that the RSPCA works hard to investigate complaints of alleged cruelty but do you know just how many cases they deal with in a year?  The RSPCA have revealed the number of complaints, calls and treated animals in 2010 to coincide with their RSPCA week. 

The RSPCA investigated almost 160,000 complaints of alleged cruelty in 2010 (159,686), which is more than a 10% increase compared to 2009 (141,280).

 More than 86,000 (86,354) animal owners received welfare improvement advice from the RSPCA last year, to help them improve the way they care for their pets.  This was up by more than 10,000 compared to the previous year (76,199). 

In addition, ninety two per cent of people who received warning notices from RSPCA inspectors chose to follow them rather than risk possible prosecution, resulting in much-improved lives for thousands of animals.

The RSPCA received more than 1.1 million phone calls and our advice team answered over 104,000 enquiries in 2010, with half of these being online enquiries.

 During 2010, the RSPCA:

 ·         Answered 1,163,240 calls

·         Investigated 159,686 complaints of alleged animal cruelty

·         Issued 86,354 animal owners with welfare improvement advice

·         Rescued and collected130,033 animals

·         Rehomed 64,086 animals

·         Treated and helped 210,970 animals in our hospitals and clinics

·         Spent almost £4m on veterinary care

·         Microchipped 67,388 animals, helping them to stay safe

·         Admitted 16,429 wildlife casualties into our four wildlife centres

The RSPCA had to rescue fewer animals in 2010 and the number of animals they had to find new homes for also decreased. This reflects the fact that the RSPCA is concentrating on caring for those animals which are most in need, i.e. those brought in by their inspectors. 

Tony Woodley, communications and liaison officer for the RSPCA inspectorate, said:  “It is thanks to the commitment and dedication of our officers that they managed to investigate so many complaints and rescue so many animals, especially given the treacherous weather we had in the early and latter parts of the year.

“Offering welfare advice is a crucial part of the work of the RSPCA since the Animal Welfare Act came into law in 2007.  It enables our officers to actually prevent cruelty by issuing owners with advice on how to care for and treat their animals.  Over nine out of ten owners chose to follow the advice rather than risking prosecution, which is always a last resort as far as the RSPCA is concerned.”

To find out more about the work of the RSPCA visit www.rspca.org.uk.  To find out how to support your local independent RSPCA branch during RSPCA Week and all year round, and for a list of your local events, please visit www.rspcaweek.org.uk

Follow RSPCA Frontline on Twitter (@RSPCA_frontline) for a live one-day tweet-a-thon on Thursday 5 May.  RSPCA inspector Tony Woodley will be tweeting updates of animal rescues and cruelty complaints received throughout the day.