Rabbits are major victims in West Yorkshire animal cruelty cases

Mar 30 2009 By John Avison

WE ARE now in Rabbit Action Week designated by the animal charity the RSPCA as an opportunity to relieve the suffering caused by rabbit-owners’ neglect and cruelty.

Rabbits, it seems, have borne the brunt of a wave of abuse regionally that can only have been exacerbated by the current recession.

With less money around, people tend to focus on human problems, neglecting their animals.

Or so the theory goes. There is little evidence that cruelty to animals is on the rise specifically due to the recession, and what there is, from the RSPCA at least, is from 2007, long before the present financial unpleasantness.

But it’s as well to note that West Yorkshire remains a very unhealthy place to be a pet. The county was the worst in the country in 2007 with 112 convictions for cruelty to animals.

“It’s very difficult for us to give you anything concrete on the credit crunch at the moment as we’re in the process of formalising our position on its effect,” said Leanne Plumtree, the RSPCA’s north regional press officer.

“We are intending to put some stats and stuff out in a few weeks’ time, probably the end of April.

“Since the credit crunch began, some individual RSPCA animal centres have had a few cases where lack of money has been cited as a reason for handing over pets, but since the animal centres run at full capacity at most times anyway it’s not easy to assess the scale of the problem yet.

“A number of pet owners have contacted the RSPCA to inquire how to best care for their pet throughout these difficult financial times.

“We are obviously glad that people are seeking advice and help from animal welfare organisations and we’re also pleased that the number of people enquiring about how to adopt animals from the RSPCA has also increased.

“The RSPCA relies entirely on public donations and it’s this vital support that enables us to re-home more pets than any other organisation.

“Although we are concerned that the recession could have a knock-on effect for animals, the overwhelming majority of pet owners are responsible and will do all they can to look after their animals.”

Even using 2007 statistics, the trends are not good. The year saw a 34% increase in convictions for cruelty to dogs (up from 891 in 2006 to 1,197 in 2007) in England and Wales.

There was a 15% increase in convictions for cruelty to cats (up from 240 in 2006 to 277 in 2007).