Charity received 833 calls about neglect and cruelty last year.

The RSPCA is anticipating a busy festive period this year after dealing with an increased number of calls about cruelty and neglect during Christmas last year.

In 2012, 2,087 calls were answered by the RSPCA’s 24-hour call handling team over the three-day period, passing on information to inspectors and giving advice to callers.

Staff were especially busy answering calls on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day last year. In total they received 833 calls about neglect and cruelty during the festive season, 413 on Christmas Eve, 144 on Christmas Day and 276 on Boxing Day. These figures are up by 53 per cent compared to the same period in 2011.

Calls to collect injured and abandoned animals were also up by about a third (32 per cent) from 584 in 2011 to 769 in 2012. Calls last year included a kitten stuck in a car engine, rabbits dumped in a hutch in a park and a dog being punched and kicked.

Last year 39 animals were taken in after being dumped by their owners. One included a Lhasa Apso dog found on Christmas Eve soaking wet and cold chained to a barbed wire fence.

Dermot Murphy, Chief Inspector, said: “We are ready for a busy time. Last year the number of calls about animals which needed our help was significantly higher than the year before. Christmas Eve seems to be the busiest day of the three.
 
“While families are enjoying their Christmas dinner our inspectors could be wading across waterlogged fields to check horses and livestock, taking an injured swan to a wildlife hospital or investigating calls about cruelty to pets. Just because it’s Christmas, our work doesn’t stop.”