A TOTAL of 38,087 abandonment reports were made to the RSPCA’s cruelty line last year across England and Wales.

This was an average of more than 3,000 reports a month, 104 a day, or four abandoned animals every hour.

In Wales, there were 2,509 abandoned animals reported to the RSPCA in 2021.

This year, these figures have risen by 23 per cent in Wales, with 1,554 abandoned animal reports made to the charity in the country from January to July.

The number of animals being dumped is also on the rise nationally, with a 17 per cent increase from 2020 to 2021, and a 24 per cent rise in 2022.

The charity fears that a huge rise in pet ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the cost of living crisis putting a strain on people’s finances, means even more animals are being given up this year.

The animal welfare charity has released the figures as part of its “Cancel Out Cruelty” summer campaign.

This aims to raise funds to keep its rescue teams on the frontline saving animals in desperate need of help, as well as raise awareness about how people can work together to stop cruelty for good.

Dermot Murphy, chief inspectorate officer at the RSPCA, said: “The idea of putting your cat in a cat carrier and taking them to a secluded spot in the woods before walking away, or chucking your dog out of the car and driving off leaving them desperately running behind the vehicle, is absolutely unthinkable and heart-breaking to most pet owners.

“But sadly, we are seeing animals callously abandoned like this every single day.

“We understand that sometimes the unexpected can happen - the pandemic and cost of living crisis proved that - but there is never an excuse to abandon an animal.

“There are always other options for anyone who has fallen on hard times and can no longer afford to keep their pet.”

From January to July 2021, there were 18,375 abandonment reports compared to 22,908 in the first seven months of this year - a rise of 24 per cent.

A report released by the RSPCA, in partnership with the Scottish SPCA, also showed that the cost of living crisis is the most urgent threat to pet welfare in the UK.

The Animal Kindness Index showed that 78 per cent of pet owners think the cost of living will impact their animals.

Almost seven out of 10 (68 per cent) expressed concern that the cost of care was increasing, and 19 per cent were worried about how they’ll afford to feed their pets.

The study also showed cat owners seem to be most impacted and concerned about cost of living pressures.

This survey comes at a time when the charity is at its busiest period.

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The RSPCA receives about 90,000 calls to its cruelty line every month, but in the summer (July and August), calls rise to 134,000 a month and reports of cruelty soar to 7,600 each month.

Dogs were the most abandoned pet, with 14,462 reports of dumped dogs made to the RSPCA last year.

Cats were the second-most abandoned pet, with 10,051 reports of them being dumped in 2021.

There were also 3,363 abandoned exotic pets reported to the RSPCA, including 1,455 fish and 685 snakes.

In one instance, a couple from Flintshire saved the life of a severely injured dog who they saw stumbling towards them as they drove along a country lane near Llansannan.

Four-year-old terrier cross Fenton was badly injured, exhausted and struggling with bleeding wounds on the side of his face and neck.

After wrapping him in a towel belonging to their own dog they contacted the RSPCA, who asked the couple if they could take Fenton to the charity’s Bryn-y-Maen Animal Centre in Colwyn Bay, following the incident last August.

Deputy centre manager Rachel Gibbs said: “Fenton was in an incredibly bad way. He was just lying on his side, almost lifeless in the footwell of the car.

“He had a lot of infected wounds - several of these were long-standing and looked like bites - and he was covered in thick dirt and unable to lift his head.”

The skin on Fenton’s toes had also been ripped from the underlying tissue, which suggested he may also have been hit by a car.

After receiving life-saving treatment, Fenton needed more than three months of intensive treatment by staff at Bryn-y-Maen to ensure his wounds and skin were fully healed.

The couple who had rescued him visited several times during his stay.

Fenton was then rehomed to a couple in Cheshire at the end of November.

An appeal to find his owner was shared more than 2,000 times on Facebook, but no-one came forward to claim the little dog, who the RSPCA suspected had been abandoned.

To help support the RSPCA, visit: www.rspca.org.uk/stopcruelty.

If you cannot donate, there are other ways you can help “Cancel Out Cruelty”, from volunteering with the RSPCA, holding a bake sale or fundraiser, or taking part in the #50MilesForAnimals challenge.