Lancashire called an 'animal cruelty hotspot' by the RSPCA

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.

In 2020 alone, 333 intentional harm incidents were reported in Lancashire.

One of these incidents involved a Blackpool man who killed his friend’s cat by dropping a concrete slab on its head.

This incident took place last year and he was sentenced to a 12-week jail term and an indefinite ban from keeping animals.

In 2019 a puppy died after being buried alive in a Leyland field in a “hideous act of cruelty”.

Sometime between July 2019 and March 2020, a Blackpool woman was banned from keeping animals for life after she left her dog to die in a cupboard under that stairs.

The floor of the cupboard was covered in old dog faeces and there was no natural light or any form of appropriate bedding.

The dog was in an emaciated state with all of her bones visible and protruding.

In addition to the lifetime disqualification from keeping all animals, which she cannot appeal for 10 years, magistrates sentenced the owner to 14 weeks custody, suspended for two years, a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered her to pay £150 costs.

These are just a handful of the horrendous acts of cruelty reported on our doorstep.

A spokesperson for the East Lancashire branch said: "Local RSPCA animal centres, such as the centre operated by the RSPCA Lancashire East Branch at Altham near Accrington, provide invaluable support to RSPCA inspectors by rehabilitating and rehoming the hundreds of animals that are sadly subject to cruelty and abuse every day of every year. 

“The Lancashire East Branch depends on the generous support of the public to continue its work helping Cancel Out Cruelty.”

Cancel Out Cruelty Campaign

The figures have been released as part of the RSPCA’s Cancel Out Cruelty Campaign which launched this week.

Other counties also featured on the RSPCA’s animal cruelty hotspot list, with Greater London coming out on top with 8,565 intentional harm incidents reported to the RSPCA between 2016-2020.

10 counties with the highest number of intentional harm to animal reports

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.

July is a particularly busy month for investigating cruelty - last year the RSPCA dealt with a spike in intentional cruelty as 1,532 incidents were called through to their emergency helpline and the charity is expecting a similar spike this July.

Beatings, knife crime, drowning and intentional killing are just some of the horrific incidents RSPCA animal rescuers deal with every day.

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.

“The past year has seen a reportedly huge rise in pet ownership and we know most people would not dream of harming an animal. However, we are concerned that, as we come out of lockdown and people return to their jobs outside the home or suffer financial pressures, we will see more animals suffer if their owners find themselves unable to cope.

“We are urging people in Lancashire to support our campaign to Cancel Out Cruelty so we can all work together to end cruelty towards animals.

To donate to the Cancel Out Cruelty campaign visit www.rspca.org.uk/stopcruelty.

The RSPCA urge anyone who wants to report animal cruelty to us to call their hotline on 0300 1234 999.