Five dogs abused every week in the East of England
Dogs are four times more likely to be victims than cats
We call dogs "man's best friend", but new RSPCA data shows they are more likely to be victims of abuse than any other pet.
In 2020, the charity's officers investigated 303 incidents of deliberate cruelty towards dogs in the East, with 80 of those in Suffolk.
Amy Ockelford, RSPCA spokesperson in Suffolk, said: "The stats are quite shocking, really. We consider ourselves a nation of animal lovers.
"But what these statistics reveal is that dogs are actually four times more likely to be the victims of deliberate cruelty than other pets are."
The RSPCA gets around 84,000 calls to its cruelty line every month. 1,500 of those are about intentional cruelty.
But the charity sees a rise in the summer by around 400 calls, on average, per month, which equates to 47 calls every day or two every hour.
Amy says she is also concerned about the increasing number of videos showing animal abuse on social media, and children being exposed to it.
She said: "We'd say to anybody who is using social media, who sees something that they are concerned about, to report it to the social media provider, but also to contact us."
To raise awareness for the issue, RSPCA is running the Cancel Out Cruelty.
The campaign aims to raise funds to keep its rescue teams on the frontline saving animals in desperate need of help, as well as raise awareness about how we can all work together to stamp out cruelty for good.
If you are concerned about the welfare of an animal, whether that is an injured wild animal, or a pet that you don't think is getting the appropriate care, you can call the RSPCA hotline under 0300 1234 999.