Sharp rise in Shropshire animal cruelty cases

In Shropshire, the number of reported cases rose by nearly 10 per cent, with officers investigating four new complaints on average each day, according to animal charity the RSPCA.

The shocking figures show more than 1,400 complaints of animal cruelty were made in Shropshire during 2016.

In the Midlands as a whole, investigators looked at 92 new reports each day – about four every hour.

Dermot Murphy, assistant director of the RSPCA Inspectorate, said: “It never fails to shock me when I look back on the extreme instances of animal cruelty the RSPCA has been called upon to investigate.

“It continues to outrage and sadden me that people can be capable of such deliberate brutality towards animals, but equally it drives me on to ensure that perpetrators of animal cruelty are put before the courts.

“I believe that the figures from last year show that we’re not becoming crueller, but that people are simply less willing to stand by and do nothing if they think an animal is suffering.

“People are increasingly likely to share images or footage on their social media accounts of animals they believe are not being cared for properly, while many will see material their friends have shared and then contact us about them.

“Either way, our officers are under increased pressure having to respond to more calls and investigate more complaints, but it is thanks to their dedication, as well as RSPCA staff and volunteers across England and Wales that we are able to transform the lives of tens of thousands of animals each year.”

In 2015, the RSPCA dealt with 1,311 cases reported from Shropshire. However last year, this rose to 1,439.

In Powys, the Welsh branch of the animal charity dealt with a total of 512 complaints, up from 465 in 2015.

In the region, the highest number of complaints investigated was in the West Midlands, with 6,834. There were 3,350 in Staffordshire

The RSPCA said that, while the increase is concerning, it also shows that people carrying out crimes against animals are being brought to justice.

The RSPCA's Mr Murphy added: "People might see these figures as a negative, and I certainly take no satisfaction from knowing that any animal has suffered.

"What I do take pride in is knowing that because of the RSPCA’s intervention we have prevented many more animals from suffering at the hands of those who we have successfully investigated and brought before the courts."

Snake case one of the worst

Complaints made to the RSPCA can be brutal and senseless and against a range of animals, officers say.

Last year, Jennifer Lampe from Market Drayton was convicted after admitting decapitating a royal python and boa constrictor with a pair of scissors. The heads of the two snakes were in the pockets of her jogging bottoms and she was covered in blood when police arrived to arrest her.

RSPCA inspector Dawn Burrell, who investigated, said: “They were not small snakes – the boa constrictor was two metres long and the royal python was one-and-a-half metres long – and it would have taken some force to remove their heads. They would have suffered a great deal during this incident.

“It is important to remember we have a duty of care towards all animals, whether they be dogs, cats or snakes. None of them deserve to die in such a brutal way.”

Lampe, of Shropshire Street in Market Drayton, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the snakes in July last year and was given a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years, disqualified from keeping animals for five years and ordered to pay £100 costs.

Inspector Burrell said: “This is one of the most horrific cases of animal cruelty I have ever dealt with in my time at the RSPCA. The snakes would have suffered tremendously.”

In May 2015, Quade Roy Adams of, Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry, was jailed for killing a puppy and a kitten who had messed on the carpet. Adams was jailed for 12 weeks and banned from keeping animals for at least five years.

In November 2015, Adrian Margerison, of Snailbeach near Shrewsbury, was jailed for killing his dog with an axe after feeding it painkillers.