Animals stabbed, shot and starved

ANIMALS were slashed, shot, stabbed, starved and dumped in 2002, according to the latest report from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

In a year that saw the emergence of British-made “squish” videos, featuring small animals being slowly and deliberately crushed to death, the RSPCA said it continued to be sickened by acts of deliberate and brutal cruelty.

Although the RSPCA said it was heartened to see a fall in numbers of cases prosecuted, those involving violence towards animals had risen with a total of 57 prison sentences imposed, up from 46 in 2001.