The ISPCA handled a record 17,338 calls about animal cruelty last year with its staff carrying out 3,494 inspections and taking 1,102 animals into care.

The ISPCA seized 995 animals and carried out 3,200 investigations and initiated 32 prosecutions last year, according to the charity’s 2016 Inspectorate Report.

A report from the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has revealed that they got more than 16,000 calls to their National Animal Cruelty Helpline last year.