OVER four hundred North Wales reports of abandoned animals were made to RSPCA Cymru in 2021, figures have revealed.

The charity says it receives a heartbreaking four reports of abandoned animals every hour.

As part of the charity’s Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, the RSPCA has revealed it received more than 100 reports of animals being abandoned every single day throughout 2021 and sadly these figures are on the rise this year too.

A total of 38,087 abandonment reports were made to the charity’s cruelty line last year across England and Wales - an average of over 3,000 reports a month, 104 a day or four abandoned animals every hour.

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

In North Wales, there were 34 on Anglesey, 95 in Conwy, 75 in Denbighshire, 81 in Flintshire, 75 in Gwynedd and 86 in Wrexham, giving a total of 446 cases.

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

The charity fears that a huge rise in pet ownership during the 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.

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 heartbreaking 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.”

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PIC: Luckily, Fenton's story has a happy ending!

Last year, 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 received the best Christmas present ever after he was rehomed to a couple in Cheshire at the end of November last year. An appeal to find his owner was shared over 2,000 times on Facebook, but no-one came forward to claim the little dog, who the RSPCA suspected had been abandoned.

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%.