Reports of intentional animal beatings made to the RSPCA have risen by 90% in five years, with more than 16,000 reports recorded last year, according to figures released by the charity.
These figures have been released as part of the RSPCA’s Cruelty Hurts, Love Rescues campaign which coincides with the charity’s busiest period, as cruelty reports typically peak during the summer months.
Dogs and cats face the most abuse and the beatings are most often carried out by someone in the pet’s family. These reports represent 85% of all animal cruelty complaints made to the RSPCA , meaning the charity deals with more animals being beaten than any other issue.
“It’s incredibly distressing to see such a massive rise in reports of intentional beatings with one report coming to our cruelty line every 15 minutes,” said RSPCA superintendent Jo Hirst.
“These are often upsetting cases where animals – usually pet cats and dogs – have experienced deliberate and horrific violence – leaving animals with not only physical injuries but mental scars as well.”
‘Multitude of factors’
“The reasons why an individual acts in this way can be down to a multitude of factors – if they are struggling with behavioural problems or their mental health, they may have violent tendencies generally, or sometimes pets are used as part of coercive control, or simply the perpetrator has a complete lack of empathy for animals,” said Jo.
The RSPCA said the rise in reports does not necessarily mean that the number of beatings taking place has increased by the same amount, with better access to CCTV, doorbell camera and smartphones potentially making incidents easier to detect and report.
“We’re also finding that CCTV footage, doorbell cameras and smartphones are providing a view into society that we never had before, meaning that animal beatings are more likely to be caught on camera in supermarket car parks, on streets, in lifts, and even behind closed doors in the home,” said Jo.
“This could also account for the rise that we are seeing as they are more likely to be caught on camera, uploaded to social media or reported to us.”
Horse whipped excessively
One case investigated by the RSPCA involved a young horse pulling a cart in Buckinghamshire. A passer-by filmed the incident where the horse was whipped excessively by a man until he collapsed with exhaustion. The horse was then whipped again as he lay on the ground.
The video evidence was sent to the RSPCA which investigated the incident and took the horse into its care. The man pleaded guilty to three animal welfare offences and was given a five-year ban from keeping animals.
To donate to the RSPCA’s Cruelty Hurts, Love Rescues campaign click here.
Image © RSPCA.
