Rushden cat shot with pellet highlighted as figures show 246 cat cruelty reports made to RSPCA in Northamptonshire last year

Figures released by the RSPCA as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign have revealed 246 cat cruelty complaints were made in Northamptonshire last year.

Nationally, last year, there were almost 18,000 cat cruelty complaints reported to the RSPCA.

Of those reports 1,726 were intentional harm incidents - which is around five a day.

This is a 25 per cent increase from 2021 when the number was 1,387.

The charity has released the figures as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign in a bid to raise funds to help its frontline rescue teams continue to save animals from cruelty and abuse.

It comes during a busy time for the animal welfare charity which sees cruelty peak in the summer with three reports made every minute.

Sarah Bate, chief inspector for Northamptonshire, said: “Right now, animal cruelty is happening in England and Wales on a massive scale and rising.

"It is heartbreaking that we are seeing such sad figures which show animal cruelty is, very sadly, on the rise.

“While we don’t know for certain why there has been an increase, the cost of living crisis and the post-pandemic world we live in has created an animal welfare crisis.

“Each year, these reports reach its terrible annual peak in the summer months.

"The cost-of-living crisis also means the cost of rescuing animals is at an all-time high and our vital services are stretched to the limit.”

One local example is family pet cat Belle, aged four, who was found dying by her owners on Sunday, March 4 on the Greenacre estate in Rushden after she had been missing for a day.

Her owner had been desperately searching for her after she didn’t return home as usual on Saturday.

Despite extensive searches, Belle was not found until 6.30am the next morning where her owner spotted her laying face down on the floor outside a property some three doors away.

She was weak and unresponsive and her owner rushed her to an emergency animal hospital in Northampton.

Belle was in a critical condition, but was stabilised and appeared to pick up.

She was brighter so allowed to go home and rest while her owners continued to monitor her.

However, the next day Belle’s condition deteriorated again and she was taken to the family’s local vet where she was given pain relief and an x-ray was carried out.

A pellet was discovered in her body which had damaged her oesophagus, stomach and liver.

Belle was rushed to a specialist vet for emergency surgery to remove the pellet, but she did not make it as the pellet had caused too much damage and Belle passed away.

Her family were left heartbroken by what had happened to their beloved Belle as well as angry that someone had deliberately targeted their pet.

It is not known why reports of animal cruelty peak in the summer months although factors like animal abuse being more visible as people are outdoors more could be one factor.

The RSPCA’s frontline teams are working hard to rescue animals in need this summer but they can't do it alone - they need your help to Cancel Out Cruelty.

To help support the RSPCA, visit www.rspca.org.uk/cruelty