Call to 'Cancel Out Cruelty' as RSPCA braces for summer surge - The Solihull Observer

Call to 'Cancel Out Cruelty' as RSPCA braces for summer surge

Solihull Editorial 12th Jul, 2021   0

THE RSPCA launched a new campaign to ‘Cancel Out Cruelty’ as figures reveal the West Midlands is one of the ten ‘cruelty hotspots’ in England and Wales.

Over the last five years, the charity has received 4,491 reports of intentional cruelty to animals in the West Midlands, making it the 3rd highest area for animal cruelty reports.

Dermot Murphy, head of RSPCA animal rescue teams, said: “We always sadly see a rise in cruelty during the Summer months.

“Unfortunately, the hot summer days can lead to more people drinking alcohol in the sun which can be a factor in causing violence.




“There could also be boredom during the long holidays and more pressures at home – when the whole family is on holiday from school and work, existing difficulties in the home can be magnified.”

“Police forces reported a rise in domestic violence last year during lockdown and we are concerned that similar pressures which led to this rise may also have impacted on more cruelty to animals behind closed doors during the pandemic.


The charity has released the figures as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, to raise funds to keep its rescue teams out on the frontline saving animals in desperate need of help and to raise awareness about how we can all help stamp out cruelty for good.

The RSPCA gets around 84,000 calls to its cruelty line every month and around 1,500 of those are about intentional cruelty.

Beatings, knife crime, drowning and intentional killing are just some of the horrific incidents RSPCA animal rescuers deal with every day.

Dermot added: “We are urging people in the West Midlands to support our campaign to Cancel Out Cruelty so we can all work together to end cruelty towards animals.

“We urge anyone who wants to report animal cruelty to us to call our hotline on 0300 1234 999.”

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