426 number of animal cruelty complaints investigated in Wrexham last year

Prosecutions for animal cruelty and neglect RSPCA Cymru hit a four year high in 2017.

Wrexham saw 426 number of animal cruelty complaints investigated in 2017 , with 33 equine specific complaints, and 136 calls involving equines.

The above picture is of Penny, white and tan Staffordshire bull terrier, who was confined to a cupboard under the stairs of a Hightown property, where she was chained up.

After the grim story from last year, including the note that she was looking to be rehomed, we are pleased to say she is now living in Conwy. Richard, her new human,  says she has ‘settled in straight away’ adding: “She is very affectionate and loves to play in the garden. She loves birds and is really good with children. To think that she was kept in the conditions she was before is awful.”

Throughout 2017, 148 convictions were secured by the RSPCA in magistrates’ courts across Wales, compared to 120 in 2016, 89 in 2015 and 116 in 2014.

Levels of animal cruelty have been branded “extremely shocking and deeply saddening” with a total of 10,176 complaints of cruelty over the calendar year in Wales.

The 148 convictions relate to a total of 67 defendants – a rise on the 61 convicted in the previous year.

Some of the cases sentenced in 2017 include:
– A Pembrokeshire man who failed to provide proper care for five equines, in what the RSPCA described as the “worst case of overgrown hooves” he had to deal with in 18 years on the job

– A Blaenau Gwent man who dumped an unwell German shepherd dog, concealed in a piece of carpet on the side of a Fochriw road

– A man who admitted bludgeoning a cat to death at a Conwy hotel

– Three men who launched a rat out of a pipe ‘like a cannonball’ at a Merthyr Tydfil garage.

– A Deeside man who left his Jack Russell terrier with a “horrendous” leg injury

– A man and a woman from Llanelli who were handed suspended prison sentences, and banned from keeping animals for eight years, after a video emerged on social media which showed a pony being brutally whipped and kicked

Martyn Hubbard from RSPCA Cymru said: “It is extremely shocking and deeply saddening to see this level of horrific cruelty across Wales. The number of convictions secured now stand at a four-year high in Wales”

“This evidence understandably causes great distress and public outcry. Thankfully due to valuable information being reported to us in confidence, we are able to investigate and bring any animal welfare offenders to justice.

“There is just no excuse for animal cruelty and will continue to ensure animal welfare laws are adhered to. Prosecution is always a last resort for the RSPCA – and court cases were the huge minority of the 28 complaints we investigated on average every single day of 2017.

To report any animal in need of the help of the RSPCA you can call their ‘cruelty line’ on 0300 1234 999.