'Heartbreaking' calls to RSPCA as three animals stabbed every week

More than 100 incidents of animals being slashed or stabbed have been recorded every year since 2016 by the RSPCA.

Amid rising levels of knife crime on the streets of the UK, the charity revealed it has been receiving an average of three calls a week about animals being attacked with blades.

:: WARNING: Graphic images below

Dermot Murphy, assistant director to the inspectorate, said: "The country has been horrified by the tragic toll that knife crime is having on young people in our towns and cities.

"Sadly, we are seeing far too many shocking incidents of blades also being used on animals.

"These figures are a shocking representation of our times. The RSPCA is used to receiving more than a million calls a year about all types of cruelty and neglect - but the brutality involved in stabbing a defenceless animal is heartbreaking."

Between 2016 and 2018, there were 420 calls to the RSPCA's 24-hour cruelty hotline which related to injuries to animals caused by knives.

The charity said 140 of these calls were made in 2018 - a slight drop from the 154 calls received the year before.

In some of the worst cases, two alpacas died in the space of three months at a home in Buckinghamshire.

Their owner found Hector the alpaca slashed with a knife in November 2018, and Ed with his eye gouged out three months later in February.

Murphy, a Shetland pony was found stabbed in a Sunderland allotment in the early hours of 7 September 2018.

The owner was never traced despite an investigation by the RSPCA.

In January 2018, a dog was found stabbed in the head and stuffed inside a suitcase in Halifax. He looked to have been restrained with his own collar and lead.

The RSPCA said he was strong and healthy other than his wounds.

The suitcase was dumped next to a fridge freezer in Wharley. It was found by council workers who called the RSPCA.

Mr Murphy added: "Despite appeals for information, we have not found those responsible for these brutal attacks. It appears in some of these cases that they are random attacks made on animals and in others, it could be that an owner has lost their temper or decided they no longer want a pet.

"There is never an excuse for such sickening behaviour and we would always urge anyone with information about cruelty towards animals to contact us."

:: The RSPCA hotline is open 24 hours a day on 0300 123 4999.