Charity's resources are stretched to 'breaking point' after receiving 1.3m phone calls in 2011, up 13% on the previous year
The RSPCA is warning of a crisis in animal welfare that is stretching its resources to breaking point, as the number of cruelty and neglect convictions has risen by almost a quarter in the past year.
The charity says the number of phone calls it received rose to more than 1.3m last year – a 13% increase on the 2010 figures. In total, 3,036 people were reported to the prosecutions department, an increase of 9.3% on 2010 figures.
There has also been a 23.5% rise in the number of people convicted for cruelty and neglect – 1,341 people in 2011 – and a 22% rise in the number of cruelty cases involving dogs – 2,105 cases last year.
Gavin Grant, chief executive of the RSPCA, said the charity was being stretched to "breaking point".
"We show zero tolerance to animal abusers. Anyone causing animals pain for profit or pleasure will be tracked down and prosecuted. We need the courts, councils, police and people who care to join us in standing up and getting justice for Britain's abused animals," he said.
He told some incredible stories of animal survival in the face of cruelty, including a lurcher dog repeatedly stabbed with a potato peeler who had her back broken. Despite being dumped and left to die, she lived. In another case, a dog was found to have survived in a house where five animals died an agonising death from starvation. Another incident involved a blind kitten discovered in a carrier bag.
Cruelty is not confined to domestic animals. Cases involving farm animals increased and there were 230 convictions as a result of cruelty to horses.
The dog stabbed with a potato peeler, Maggie May, now has a fantastic new life in a lovely new home, according to Grant. He said Beethoven, the dog left to die with another dog, two cats and two other small animals, has also been rehomed and has a great new life.
The RSPCA says it costs more than £124m a year to provide its service annually. A new Facebook app is being launched at the weekend ahead of RSPCA week.
Sally Case, head of society prosecutions at the RSPCA, said the charity strives to keep animals with their owners wherever possible and "offers advice on improving their welfare".
She said: "Overwhelmingly, this advice is followed, but where it isn't, or where someone has already harmed an animal there has to be a way of ensuring that animals are not left to suffer." Although the RSPCA is the charity people turn to, it is "struggling to continue providing this service".