Dogs and rabbits dumped to make way for new ones

More than 3,000 cases of animal cruelty in Kent were reported to the RSPCA last Christmas.

Figures from the charity reveal 3,123 calls were made to the organisation between December 2016 and January 2017.

That’s up from 2,834 in 2015/16 (9.1%).

It comes as the charity’s Christmas advertisement has been launched, featuring a cover of Stars by Lucy Ellie.

The film shows Woody the Christmas toy pup who is thrown out with the rubbish before being rescued and taken in by the RSPCA.

Last Christmas the area with the most calls to the RSPCA about animal cruelty was Medway with 406 reports followed by Swale with 291, Maidstone with 269 and Tonbridge and Malling with 261. On the other end of the scale, the area with the least reports of animal cruelty over the holiday period was Tunbridge Wells with 153.

The charity says common issues around this time of year include peopl e abandoning pets so they can get new ones, such as puppies or baby rabbits for Christmas. Some of the calls involve animals who may be unwanted presents, while some are about horses being outside without the correct winter protection. The charity’s Inspector Rose Russon said: “People abandoning animals in the lead- up to Christmas is increasing. Each and every one of those calls is at least one animal that’s having a problem or being neglected and obviously it’s worrying.

“I think there’s a rise in the number of calls we’re getting because of the weather and water icing over. We’re getting lots of dogs being kept outdoors in the cold weather at the moment.”