Hundreds of cats in Lincolnshire abused in 2022 - RSPCA

Cats are the second most abused pet in the UK after dogs, according to the RSPCA

Hundreds of cats in Lincolnshire were intentionally harmed, neglected or abandoned in 2022, the RSPCA has said.

New figures show 385 cat cruelty reports were made to the animal welfare charity in the county last year.

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

According to the charity, cats were the second most abused pet in the UK after dogs, with cat cruelty complaints reported nationally on the increase.

The figures were released on Thursday as part of the RSPCA's Cancel Out Cruelty campaign.

Nationally, almost 18,000 cat cruelty complaints were reported to the RSPCA in 2022, which included abandonments, neglect, intentional harm and pets being left unattended.

Of those reports, 1,726 were intentional harm incidents, which included attempted killings, poisonings, beatings and improper killings.

This was a 25% increase from 2021, when the number was 1,387, the charity said.

'Unimaginable cruelty'

While Lincolnshire's cat cruelty figures were lower in 2022 than in the previous year, when 431 cases were reported, Rebecca Lowe, the RSPCA's chief inspector for Lincolnshire, said nationally animal cruelty in England and Wales was "on a massive scale and rising".

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

"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."

Dr Sam Gaines, head of the RSPCA's companion animal department, said: "We see hundreds of felines come through our doors every year who have been subjected to unimaginable cruelty - being beaten, burned, thrown around, had bones broken, been shot at, poisoned and drowned.

"In many cases, these pets have been injured deliberately by their owners - the very people who are supposed to love and protect them."

The RSPCA said in the summer months, three reports of animal cruelty were made every minute.

It added that it was not known why reports peaked in the summer, although factors like animal abuse being more visible as people were outdoors more could be a factor.