ANIMAL beatings are on the rise with one report of animal abuse made every 15 minutes the call line is open according to new figures released by the RSPCA.

The charity is highlighting these new figures as part of its Summer Cruelty Campaign.

In Somerset, there has been a 100% rise in reports of beatings during the summer months from 2020 to 2024 (33 vs 66) with 263 reports in total.

Across England and Wales, there has been a 105% rise in reports of beatings in summer over the last four years with four beatings reported every hour or one every 15 minutes the call line is open.

Year on year the number of beating reports has risen by 10% and the charity said it is braced for this to continue to climb this summer.

Ian Briggs, Head of SOU at the RSPCA, said: “These are really distressing and stark figures.

“One report of an animal being beaten every half an hour is a horrible thought, but sadly this is the reality in summer when our cruelty line receives a beating report every 30 minutes.

“It isn’t clear why there has been such a dramatic increase in abuse against animals, but what is clear is that animals are suffering at the hands of people on a much bigger scale than many people realise.

“This is why our Summer Cruelty Campaign is so important to highlight that for thousands of animals, summer is a season of pain and suffering when cruelty peaks.

“As the RSPCA braces to help tackle animal cruelty, we need your help now more than ever to continue to rescue animals in desperate need of care.”

Ian added: “We’re finding that CCTV footage, doorbell cameras and smartphones are providing a view into society that we never had before, meaning that animal beatings are more likely to be caught on camera in supermarket car parks, on streets, in lifts, and even behind closed doors in the home - giving us the evidence we need to be able to seek justice for animals.

“This could account for the rise that we are seeing as these awful abusers are more likely to be caught on camera, uploaded to social media or reported directly to us.”

Dogs were the most likely pet to be beaten with nearly 21,000 dog beating reports made to the charity last year alone with bulldog breeds the most likely to be abused (6,670 reports from 2022-2024) and Staffies (4,786) compared to just 22 reports for Old English Sheepdogs or 58 for West Highland Terriers.

In June, July and August last year the RSPCA took 34,401* cruelty calls to their emergency line - compared to 25,887* the year before - up by a third.

On average it took 374 reports of cruelty against animals every single day during this period or one call every two minutes the line was open.