Animal cruelty convictions rise

SICKENING attack . . . mobile phone footage of the Oldham youths throwing a cat by its tail

Oldham youths caught throwing cat across road

RSPCA inspectors have secured a rise in convictions for animal cruelty.

The latest figures released by the organisation show a 34 per cent increase in convictions for cruelty to dogs and a 15 per cent rise in convictions for cruelty to cats.

The rate is on the rise thanks to the new Animal Welfare Act which allows RSPCA inspectors to take action sooner.

The RSPCA has selected a number of cases to highlight the horrors they face in their day-to-day jobs, including a case in Farm Hill Close, Fitton Hill, where a teenage boy swung a cat around by its tail and threw it across the road.

His friend filmed the sickening incident on his mobile phone and the pair were caught and ordered to undertake a 12-month intensive supervision and surveillance programme, which included 90 days of specified activity and a 90-day curfew from 9pm until 7am.

They were banned from keeping cats for five years and their parents ordered to pay £450 costs for each youth.

The cat ran off after the attack and was never traced, but veterinary evidence showed that it probably ruptured its spleen and liver when it landed on its side and fractured or dislocated its tail as it was swung through the air.

When the boys — then aged 13 and 14 — were re-shown the footage of the attack in court they showed no remorse and even laughed at the cat’s distress.

RSPCA inspector Vicky McDonald said: “This was an appalling act of deliberate cruelty.

“The obvious pleasure these boys gained from their action was disturbing. Rather than show remorse the elder boy said he thought it was a laugh, and the younger boy smiled as he was re-shown the footage.

“I hope that banning them from keeping cats will go some way to preventing anything similar from happening again.”

Over the past year, RSPCA inspectors across the country have investigated 137,245 complaints and secured 54 prison sentences for animal cruelty.

There have been 861 banning orders handed out — up 26 per cent from the previous year — and the prosecution success rate for the year is 97 per cent.

North regional superintendent Dave Millard said: “These animals are the helpless victims of our throw away society.

“When their needs become too much for their owners they are ignored causing suffering and even death.

“The main reason we take people to court is to prevent cruelty being repeated and to demonstrate that animal welfare legislation is being enforced.

“It’s very reassuring to see the courts taking this seriously by issuing more and more banning orders which prevent those convicted of cruelty from keeping animals in the future.”

In Greater Manchester there were 45 convictions secured, with two prison sentences and 15 cautions handed out.