Animal abuse on rise in Lincolnshire - RSPCA

The charity said it received a call about animal cruelty every five minutes last summer

Reports of animal abuse in Lincolnshire are increasing, the RSPCA said.

The charity said it received 962 reports of cruelty towards animals in the county between January and June 2024.

They included a case in February when a cat had to be put to sleep after sustaining "horrific injuries" from getting caught in a "deadly illegal gin trap" in Boston.

The figures were released as part of the charity's No Animal Deserves Cruelty campaign.

The RSPCA said the cruelty figures had been slowly increasing in recent years.

In 2023 it received 952 reports between January and June, and in the same period in 2022 there were 893.

Last year, the charity said it received a report of animal cruelty every five minutes during the summer period and added it was "preparing for a difficult period ahead".

In February 2024 a cat was seriously injured after being found in a trap in Boston

The animal welfare group said the cat discovered in Boston had sustained “horrific injuries” which were "just too devastating".

The animal was found with a “huge, rusted device clamped around her left back leg”.

The traps, which have spring-operated jaws with teeth that snap shut, have been illegal in the UK since 1958.

In 2022, the RSPCA reported hundreds of cats in Lincolnshire were intentionally harmed, neglected or abandoned.

The cost of living crisis as well as "the post-pandemic world" had led to an "animal welfare crisis", bosses said.

Follow BBC Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]