Animal Cruelty In The North East
County Durham has the second highest number of convictions for animal cruelty in the country, according to new figures from the RSPCA.
County Durham has the second highest number of convictions for animal cruelty in the country, according to new figures from the RSPCA.
The animal charity found that the number of cruelty complaints across England and Wales increased again last year, and the North East is one of the worst areas.
83 people were convicted in County Durham last year for animal welfare offences, putting the county second in the country just behind West Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire is also one of the top 10 worst regions, sitting 5th in the table, with Tyne and Wear also in the table in 9th.
In one case two men from Ferryhill were banned from keeping animals after footage of dogs being set on a fox was put online.
Chief Inspector Mark Gent said: “The video of the dogs being set on the fox was shot at night by lamp light. It really is horrific.
“At the start of the video the fox is laid on the ground with four dogs mauling it. Four men are standing very close to the dogs, controlling them.
“You can clearly hear them encouraging the dogs throughout the video saying things like “go on lass”, “go on lad”, and “good boy, excellent”. One of the men says “It’s ripping its eye out”. A man puts his foot on the fox’s neck whilst they pull the dogs off and let the fox get up and run off before the dogs are set onto the fox again. The men can be heard shouting “go on, go on”.
A concerned member of the public contacted the RSPCA after seeing the footage online.
The RSPCA say they are committed to improving the figures and bringing down the number of offences in our region and have urged the public to contact them if they see or suspect any incidents of animal cruelty.