More than 100 incidents of dog cruelty have been reported on the Isle of Wight since the start of the pandemic — and at least 20 were classed as 'intentional'.
New figures have been released by the RSPCA today (Tuesday).
They show a spike in reports of cruelty over the summer months (July and August).
On the Island, there were 63 reports of neglect, five of dogs being trapped and 16 reports of the pets being left unattended.
While there was one incident of illegal activity involving a dog.
Nationally there were 44,427 reports of dog cruelty made to the RSPCA involving 92,244 dogs last year.
Commenting on the findings, RSPCA dog welfare expert Dr Samantha Gaines, said:
“Every year, we see many dogs coming into our care bearing the physical and mental scars that were inflicted at the hands of the very people who were meant to keep them safe and love them unconditionally.
“We are supposed to be a nation of animal lovers and dogs are ‘man’s best friend’ as the saying goes but in reality we receive many cruelty reports every day about dogs who have suffered the most unimaginable cruelty and a 16% increase of dogs being cruelly treated in a year is really concerning.
“Our officers have dealt with all sorts of horrific incidents including dogs repeatedly beaten, stabbed, burned, drowned, poisoned, some have been left to die from starvation.
“With the public’s help in reporting cruelty they have been able to save many dogs from ongoing abuse. Sadly though in some cases others have died at the hands of their tormentors and it is then our job to try and bring some justice for the victim.
“During the summer we see a rise in cruelty and this year as we have seen such a massive increase in dog ownership since lockdown we are bracing ourselves for even more reports.
“We believe there are a number of factors which mean summer is our busiest time. Perhaps there is boredom or pressures at home with children being off school which can make existing difficulties magnified.
“This year the cost of living crisis has added a further dimension and we believe we could see people really struggling to care for their pets which may lead them to lash out or could see more animals than ever being abandoned or given up.
“All these factors mean that we need the public's support more than ever to help Cancel Out Cruelty. As a charity, we are bracing to tackle a summer of suffering but we cannot do this without your help and we rely on public support to carry on our rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming work.”
To help prevent suffering the RSPCA has launched its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign which aims to raise funds to keep its rescue teams on the frontline saving animals in desperate need of help.
It also aims to raise awareness about how we can all work together to stamp out cruelty for good.
You can find out more here.
The national RSPCA organisation is a separately registered charity to RSPCA Isle of Wight.
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