Animal cruelty cases on the rise in Shropshire

Nationally, there were 81,146 investigations into cruelty towards the pet commonly thought of as our most loyal companion, dogs, more than twice the number of investigations into cats, of which there were 33,844.

Although complaints and investigations were down nationally, the number of advice or notices given out in Shropshire rose from 1,236 to 1,265. There was a total of 9,895 complaints investigated in 2015 compared to 11,740 in 2014.

The number of animal owners who were offered and accepted welfare advice were 5,790 – an increase from 5,527 in 2014.

A tortoiseshell cat died from starvation in Shropshire.

He was found by the front door of a house in Shrewsbury after the RSPCA was contacted with concerns about his welfare.

The cat's owner had moved out two weeks before, leaving the cat locked in the flat. RSPCA inspector Paul Seddon, said: "What the woman did was absolutely unforgivable. There were empty cat food tins on the floor of the flat which the cat must have tried to lick to get some food."

As well as being disqualified from keeping animals for three years, the woman received a three-month curfew and was ordered to pay £500 costs.

There was a happier ending for Peaches, abandoned in a locked flat in Welshpool for a week over Christmas while her owner went away to stay with family.

She was discovered by a plumber working in the property, thin and suffering from fur loss. The owner was disqualified from keeping animals for three years, and ordered to pay a £75 fine and £425 costs.

In Telford a 10-week-old emaciated kitten was abandoned in a box at a dangerous junction in Jackfield in December.

When he arrived in the RSPCA's care, the kitten – named Jack – was skinny, dehydrated and suffering from diarrhoea and worms.

RSPCA animal welfare officer Elaine Williams said: "It is terrible to think that somebody abandoned such a small, defenceless and vulnerable kitten in this location as there is a chance he could never have been found."

He was taken to the RSPCA's Gonsal Farm Animal Centre, in Dorrington, and was cared for until he was old enough to be rehomed with Theresa Morris. "He is doing so well. My daughter Isabel was desperate for a family pet and he is just a lovely kitten," Ms Morris said. "It is terrible what happened to him, but we adore him."

Across Britain there were tales of abuse and neglect which RSPCA inspectors in the Midlands had to deal with in 2015, including a pug puppy punched so hard part of her jaw fell out and a German Shepherd who lived in a "dungeon".

Dermot Murphy, assistant director for the inspectorate, said: "People think of dogs as man's best friend but these statistics tell a different story. They are by far the most abused animal in this country and we investigate more complaints about dogs than any other species. The stories we are telling today show a snapshot of the horrific level of cruelty we have seen in the last year, which have to be some the most extreme cases I have ever heard of."