RSPCA: more than 1,600 animal cruelty reports on social media - including violent attacks on fox cub and sheep

Warning: some of the content is this story is highly disturbing.

The RSPCA is urging people to only contact them about animal cruelty videos on social media if they have first-hand information, as the charity wrestles with hundreds of reports of often horrific violence against pets and wildlife.

The charity has released new figures on cases of animal cruelty on social media reported to it, as a part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign - aiming to raise funds to help its frontline rescue teams continue to save animals from cruelty and abuse.

Of the 1,666 reports made to the RSPCA since 2020, its figures showed 534 - or 32% - of them related to animals being intentionally harmed. The others related to neglect, illegal activity such as badger baiting, or abandonments.

Some of the worst incidents reported included a tortoise which was fed drugs, a wild rabbit stabbed with a pen, a sheep beaten to death with a golf club, a fox cub's throat being slit, a goldfish's eye being cut out, and a squirrel being set on fire.

RSPCA inspectorate commissioner Dermot Murphy said with social media being a big part of so many of our lives, it can be too easy for people to see animal cruelty shared on there. "Upsettingly, it’s not always something you have a choice to see because these posts can just appear on your news feed as you’re scrolling."

Mr Murphy said they often found that when a post went viral, large numbers of people call their national helpline to report it - but this influx of calls could cause problems for the charity. "An increase in repeat calls can prevent others from getting through about other animals in urgent need of our help," he said. "So we urge people to only report it to us if they have first hand information about who is in the video.

“We absolutely share people’s concerns about horrific animal cruelty videos online and if we are able to act, we will. Positively, we have brought many perpetrators of animal cruelty to justice after they shared their acts on social media."

A recent example included a Wigan man who was filmed beating his dog - a staffie called Nala - who was successfully prosecuted by the RSPCA after footage was shared online.

In a statement presented to court, RSPCA inspector Emma Dingley said when she visited the man’s house she saw two dogs in a crate who she recognised from the videos. “I explained the situation and he stated he knew what footage I had, and it’s him just dragging the dog because she had just bitten him. He kept saying to me he disciplines his dogs, he’s had dogs all his life and it’s fine.”

After being examined by a vet, Nala was found to have soft tissue injuries to her legs which would have left her in pain for several days.

A vet who watched the videos said the first one showed a man “dragging a brindle Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog through a door frame, with his left hand pulling the dog's scruff and his right hand holding the dog's face.”

The man “then proceeded to kick the dog with his left leg making contact with the dog on one occasion.” The vet added: “Video two showed the male holding a brindle Staffordshire bull terrier type dog down with his left hand and repeatedly punching the dog on the right hand side of its neck with his right hand. He makes contact with the dog striking it in rapid succession seven times.”

After reviewing the footage the vet concluded “that the Staffordshire bull terrier dog was suffering from repeated intentional non-accidental injury episodes.”

Following the sentencing, inspector Dingley said: “The man’s actions towards his pet were totally unnecessary and unacceptable. We’re grateful to the person who alerted us to this so we could bring him accountable for his actions.”

The man was convicted of one offence under the Animal Welfare Act, after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his Staffordshire bull terrier. He was banned from keeping animals for five years, given a 12-month community order, ordered to pay £400 costs and a £114 victim surcharge when he was sentenced on 13 July.

Last month, the UK Government moved to strengthen its Online Safety Bill by adding animal cruelty and abuse content to the list of what is regarded harmful to children

Under the Bill, websites such as social media platforms will need to take further action to tackle illegal or harmful content - including verifying the age of users and preventing certain content from being seen - something the RSPCA had long been campaigning for.