Almost 150 animal-cruelty cases every day in Scotland, says SSPCA

THE number of cases of cruelty being inflicted on animals in Scotland has soared to new record levels.

Inspectors from animal welfare charity the Scottish SPCA faced an unprecedented demand for their services last year – dealing with a range of cases from wanton cruelty to abandonment and animal rescues.

During their investigations they found pets which had been deliberately starved to death, swans shot with an air gun, kittens stuffed in a plastic bag and thrown from a bridge, and evidence of dogs being trained to fight wild animals.

And senior SSPCA officials fear that the economic downturn may be partly to blame for the growing cases of neglect and abandonment they face.

SSPCA Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said the charity had dealt with almost 1,000 incidents a week last year – almost 150 a day and 8 per cent more than in 2010. The number of animals in its care also rose sharply, from 12,600 to 13,437, while calls to its helpline totalled 180,556, just under 500 a day.

Chief Supt Flynn said: “The 50,039 incidents we dealt with included investigations, rescues, abandonments and providing assistance, and the 13,437 animals we cared for put a massive strain on our resources.” He said the number of cruelty cases had increased to record figures, partly due to a rise in the number of people prepared to report cases to the charity.

“Our profile has never been higher and more people than ever before are aware of how we can help,” he said. “More people know we will do whatever we can do to deal with cases.

“But last year we certainly had more cases of animal cruelty reported to the procurator- fiscal for prosecution than the year before. And 12 people were banned for life last year, which is a fantastic result, because if they can’t keep an animal, they can’t be cruel to it.”

The charity believes many of the incidents it responded to could be linked to the impact of the financial downturn.

“A lot of the cases we dealt with were down to ignorance – people not feeding their animals properly and letting them starve to death,” said Chief Supt Flynn.

“Then there are cases of failure to provide treatment for obvious things, like broken legs, and a lot of that could be down to people’s financial circumstances – they can’t afford to go to a vet.”

SSPCA investigations last year resulted in 46 people being banned from keeping animals, 12 for life – seven more than in the previous year. Four people were jailed, compared with one in 2010, and fines totalled more than £25,000.

Chief Supt Flynn said the SSPCA had also carried out a major restructuring exercise over the past four years to cope with the year-on-year increase in demand for its services. He said: “We have hardly anybody in HQ now and have increased our front-line staff by 22 per cent – and that is pure necessity.”