Animal beatings in Oxfordshire up 45 per cent in five years

There have been 651 reports to the charity since 2021, where in that year 104 people called the RSPCA over animal abuse.

By 2025, that figure rose to 154.

Oxfordshire has fewer cases reported of animal beatings than neighbouring Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, which recorded 770 and 804 instances respectively.

A man has been banned from keeping animals for life after four French Bulldogs were left to starve (Image: RSPCA / SWNS)

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

Last year, Oxford couple Anders Kock, 41 and Xiaoyu Tian, 40, were fined £3,000 between them for the death of their pet rabbit who had been eaten alive by 'extremely large' maggots.

And Nicolas Bailey Parker, 34, from Banbury was banned from keeping animals for life after four French bulldogs were left to starve in a filthy, mould-infested home.

Every 15 minutes the charity receives a beating report - this represents a staggering 85 per cent of all animal cruelty complaints made to the RSPCA - meaning it deals with more animals being beaten than any other issue.

Dogs and cats usually face the brunt of these attacks - but other animals are often victims too.

And according to the charity, it is often someone in the pet’s own family perpetrating the violence - the very person who should be protecting them.

The new statistics have been released as part of the charity’s Cruelty Hurts, Love Rescues campaign which coincides with the charity’s busiest time as heart breaking cruelty reports peak over summer.

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.”

RSPCA rescuers have praised the public for their help in tackling the cruelty - not only through donations that keep officers on the frontline, but in reporting incidents to the charity’s emergency line.

“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,” Ms Hirst added.

“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.”