RSPCA names Lancashire as hotspot for animal cruelty

Lancashire has been revealed to be an animal cruelty hotspot

Over the last five years, the charity has received 3,029 reports of intentional cruelty to animals in Lancashire - making it the sixth highest area for animal cruelty reports.

Among the incidents of cruelty the RSPCA has dealt with in Lancashire is a cat who died after a man threw a paving slab on her head. The Blackpool man was prosecuted by the RSPCA and sentenced to 12 weeks in jail.

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The charity has released the figures today as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, to raise funds to keep its rescue teams out on the frontline saving animals in desperate need of help and to raise awareness about how we can all help stamp out cruelty for good.

The RSPCA gets around 84,000 calls to its cruelty line every month and around 1,500 of those are about intentional cruelty. But the charity sees a rise in the Summer by around 400 calls, on average, per month, which equates to 47 calls every day or two every hour.

Dermot Murphy, head of RSPCA animal rescue teams, said: “We always sadly see a rise in cruelty during the summer months. As well as more people being out and about in the longer sunny days, seeing and reporting abuse, we feel there are a number of factors which contribute to this rise.

“Unfortunately, the hot summer days can lead to more people drinking alcohol in the sun which can be a factor in causing violence. There could also be boredom during the long holidays and more pressures at home - when the whole family is on holiday from school and work, existing difficulties in the home can be magnified. During these hot months, calls to our cruelty line rise, putting more pressure on our already stretched frontline rescue teams.

“Police forces reported a rise in domestic violence last year during lockdown and we are concerned that similar pressures which led to this rise may also have impacted on more cruelty to animals behind closed doors during the pandemic.”

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