Pet abuse on the rise in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
Dogs were the most abused animal - according to new research.
More than 5,000 incidents of cruelty against pets were investigated in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire last year.
Dogs were the most abused animal - accounting for over half of all cases reported to the RSPCA in 2015.
In one incident in Hull, a Bichon-Frise named ‘Fluffy’ was so badly neglected by its owner that it had to have one of its legs amputated after it became infected.
Vets had to spend hours removing 750kg of hair which was ‘like concrete’.
Inspector Claire Little told Viking that it's the worst case of animal cruelty she's ever come across:
“I will never forget the smell of infected, rotting flesh that came from this poor boy once the fur, which was like concrete, was removed from his leg.
“I was involved in calming him and was present through the entire 2.5 hour period it took to remove the matting.
“He was incredibly brave but had to be sedated in the end as he was in a lot of pain with his leg.”
Fluffy - who has now been renamed ‘Troy’ made a full recovery in RSPCA care at the Hull and East Riding branch and now has a loving new home.
Troy’s original owner was disqualified from owning dogs for five years, sentenced to eight weeks in prison and was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
New research also shows that across the country -almost 57% of complaints investigated by the RSPCA in 2015 related to dogs.
Overall, there were 81,146 investigations into cruelty towards dogs - more than twice the number of investigations into cats, of which there were 33,844.