RSPCA deals with almost 9,000 incidents since first lockdown

The charity dealt with 8,869 in total across the two areas according to figures dated between March 23 last year and March 14 this year.

Officers dealt with 6,386 in the West Midlands and a total of 2,485 in Staffordshire – whilst another 1,031 incidents took place in Shropshire.

It comes as 958,352 calls were made to the RSPCA's helpline nationally, with 253,714 urgent incidents dealt with and 23,228 animals cared for.

Chief executive Chris Sherwood said: “The last year has been incredibly difficult for individuals, for families, for businesses, for charities and for animals. But I’m incredibly proud of the work the RSPCA has managed to do during this challenging year.

“We’ve had to adapt how we work, change our procedures, review our practices, and all while we continue our vital everyday work rescuing, rehabilitating, rehoming and releasing animals, and investigating animal cruelty.”

Busy inspectors in both Cheshire and Staffordshire spent time during their breaks from rescuing animals to deliver food to pet owners who were self-isolating – and the charity's hospitals, including Birmingham Animal Hospital, continued to provide emergency pet care.

The call centre continued to answer calls and staff at its 14 animal centres, four wildlife centres and branches continued to care for the animals in their care.

Mr Sherwood added: "Over the past 12 months we’ve demonstrated our commitment to animals and shown that, despite the hardships we face, we will always be there for the animals who need us. But the pandemic has hit us hard; we’ve had to change how we work, suspend door-to-door fundraising and cancel fundraising events.

"The charity sector has been hit hard by the pandemic so we’re asking the public to get behind us, to donate, and to help us continue our vital work; together we can make this a better world for animals."

To donate to the RSPCA visit www.rspca.org.uk/give