Animal cruelty convictions drop in Durham - despite 3000 complaints a year
The RSPCA say it's because they're taking more preventative measures and have more staff to give advice.
The number of people being convicted of animal cruelty in Durham has dropped, despite the RSPCA receiving over 3000 complaint calls a year.
Our exclusive investigation found there had been 42 convictions in 2015, a drop from 83 in the previous year.
Despite the drop in convictions, staff at the RSPCA were still receiving around 3000 complaint calls a year, with 1,920 animals being rescued or collected.
Staff at the RSPCA told us the drop was due to better preventative measures and more staff to assess potential cruelty cases before they go too far.
Chief Inspector Mark Gent said: "I see it as the RSPCA has technically failed if we go down the prosecution route, because it's all about prevention.
"Now we have the Animal Welfare Act we should be in there to be able to rectify it before it goes down that route.
"It's all to do with prevention and education."
A Freedom of Information request to Durham Constabulary also revealed 19 dogs deemed to be dangerous were put down in the last two years.