Around 10,000 animal cruelty cases investigated last year in North East
The RSPCA reveal they investigated almost 10,000 cases of animal abuse in the North East last year.
The RSPCA reveal they investigated almost 10,000 cases of animal abuse in the North East last year.
Cruelty stats show dogs are the most persecuted pet, with 5,720 complaints investigated in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and North Yorkshire, more than 57% of all animals.
Amongst these is a crossbreed called Scoobie who suffered a broken spine, cheekbone, eye socket and ribs and was left for dead at a house in North Shields.
Police attended the scene after neighbours reported hearing a woman screaming in September 2014, they contacted the RSPCA who found Scoobie collapsed and lying in his own faeces.
Inspector Trevor Walker, from the RSPCA, said:
“He was literally dying on the kitchen floor. We got him straight to a vets where he was hospitalised and given pain relief and fluids, but the prognosis wasn’t good.
“Someone had caused substantial, repeated trauma to him and he’d been left for dead.
“It is without doubt the worst beating case I have ever been involved in. Had it not been for the intervention of police, the RSPCA and the great work of the veterinary staff involved, I believe this dog would have died.”
Astonishingly, Scoobie responded well to treatment, undergoing surgery and making a miraculous recovery. You can see him at his new home in Northumberland here.
In June last year, a 36 year old man from North Shields, who was caring for Scoobie at the time of the incident but wasn’t his owner, appeared before North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court where he was jailed for 12 weeks and disqualified from keeping animals for life after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Scoobie by failing to provide veterinary treatment.
Figures out today also show its County Durham that has some of the highest conviction rates. They’re fourth top in the UK, with 125 people sentenced for animal cruelty in the past two years.