Man’s ”barbaric” cruelty towards defenceless animals has been revealed in sickeningly graphic detail.
A dog badly injured in dog fights organised by brothers, kittens bundled up in a bag and thrown to their fate, a family of swans only saved through the efforts of dedicated vets, and a dog dumped like rubbish in a garden after his heartless owner let him starve to death are just some of the cases the Scottish SPCA has had to tackle in the last year.
But despite the charity revealing shocking statistics dealing with nearly 1,000 incidents a week, which is an 8% rise on 2010 it insists that by and large Scotland is still a nation of animal lovers.
The Scottish SPCA said calls to its helpline were ”extremely high” at 180,556, which is just under 500 a day, and also saw the number of animals in its care leap from 12,600 to 13,437.
It’s all putting a huge strain on the resources of Scotland’s leading animal charity, according to Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn, who said the 50,039 incidents staff tackled included investigations, rescues, abandonments, providing help and looking after nearly 14,000 animals put in its care.
”It’s hard to be sure if cruelty itself is increasing as we also have to consider that our profile has never been higher and more people than ever before are aware of how we can help,” he said. ”What we can say is sheer volume is far from our only concern.
”While the majority of cases we investigate are the result of ignorance rather than outright cruelty, last year sadly demonstrated once again that there is no limit to how far some people will go to abuse animals.”
Horrific cases included an emaciated dog dumped in an Edinburgh garden, two eight-week-old kittens tied up in a plastic bag and thrown off an old railway bridge in the Borders and a family of swans who suffered multiple injuries after an airgun attack in West Lothian.
Mr Flynn added: ”We also rescued lots of small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs who had been dumped outdoors like rubbish, many in extremely poor health.
”We are very thankful for the support we receive and we believe Scotland is still largely a nation of animal lovers. It is clear though that cruelty to animals is still a serious issue in this country.”
Scottish SPCA investigations last year resulted in 46 people being banned from keeping animals 12 of whom were given life bans.
Four people were jailed, compared to one in 2010, and over £25,000 in fines handed out.