REPEATEDLY shot, slashed, stabbed, starved and dumped are just some of the cruel ways animals have been treated in London this year.

The RSPCA has investigated 9,094 complaints in London this year, rescued and collected over 21,000 animals, prosecuted 40 people for cruelty offences and inspected 504 premises where animals are kept.

RSPCA London regional superintendent Sean Jones said: "Every year we deal with cases that shock but never before have we seen such a catalogue of horrifying and vicious acts of deliberate cruelty and torture towards defenceless animals.

"The images from some of these cases will stay in our inspectors' minds for a long time."

The RSPCA fears that if this level of violence goes unchecked and is ignored by society then in the future many more people may cite cruelty as "normal behaviour".

Whilst 2001 highlighted many animals suffering due to ignorance and neglect, 2002 has exposed a darker side to the way some people treat animals.

Although the RSPCA was heartened to see a fall in the number of cases prosecuted, those involving violence towards animals has risen with a total of 57 prison sentences imposed. This is up from 46 in 2001.

In 2002, one in every ten prosecutions involved a brutal or violent act on an animal.

April 29, 2003 12:30