Pets suffer in growing wave of violence

Ned Temko
The Observer

A record number of offences has prompted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to launch a nationwide roadshow campaign to encourage 'responsible pet ownership'.

The charity's annual statistics, due out on Wednesday, will reveal a number of 'shocking' incidents of violence, as well as a significant increase on last year's record number of 70,000 cases of harmful or fatal neglect of animals.

Among the cases highlighted by the RSPCA are the discovery in Leeds of three dead cats strangled by their collars, the airgun killing of a cat in Portsmouth, and the mutilation of seagulls in Devon.

The charity said the increase in cases underscored the importance of animal protection legislation going through parliament. Expected to come into force next year, it will be the first major revision of the legislation since the early 1900s and will for the first time impose a legal 'duty of care' to animals.

This will mean owners could be prosecuted for incidents of serious neglect before, rather than after, an animal has been harmed.

An RSPCA spokesman said a series of cruelty incidents in the past few weeks, which were too late to be included in the report, 'sadly suggest that shocking violence towards animals - both pets and wildlife - is too widespread'.

The RSPCA also highlighted the four-month sentence handed down in Birmingham 10 days ago to a teenager found to have repeatedly thrown a cat off a 60ft balcony and filmed it on a mobile phone.

Later this month the RSPCA will begin holding a series of 'responsible ownership' roadshows in shopping centres around the country to highlight the provisions of the new animal laws. A poster and leaflet blitz will be launched later this year.

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