Animal beatings on the rise in Leicestershire as RSPCA figures reveal five-year high

The animal welfare charity today revealed that 16,033 beating incidents were reported last year - almost double since 2021, when the figure stood at 8,459.

In Leicestershire, beating-related incidents were 13 per cent higher in 2025 than in 2021, with 286 incidents recorded in the latest year – the highest figure in the five-year period.

The statistics have been released as part of the charity’s Cruelty Hurts, Love Rescues campaign.

RSPCA Superintendent Jo Hirst said: “It’s incredibly distressing to see such a massive rise in reports of intentional beatings with one report coming to our cruelty line every 15 minutes. These are often upsetting cases where animals - usually pet cats and dogs - have experienced deliberate and horrific violence - leaving animals with not only physical injuries but mental scars as well.

“The reasons why an individual acts in this way can be down to a multitude of factors - if they are struggling with behavioural problems or their mental health, they may have violent tendencies generally, or sometimes pets are used as part of coercive control, or simply the perpetrator has a complete lack of empathy for animals.”

The charity praised the public for stepping in and reporting incidents to its emergency line.

Jo added: “To help rescue animals from these situations we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears and report any concerns about animal abuse to us and we are grateful that so many people do and are more aware of the problem,” added Jo.

“We’re also 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.

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