Animal rescue centres have said they are seeing rising numbers of cats being neglected, abused and abandoned.
In March 2024, the RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield and Bradford branch took 50 cats into its care, but in 2026 it accepted 80.
The charity said there had been a record number of cats in national RSPCA centres, with about a third of them in emergency catteries.
Katie Lloyd, from independent charity Bradford Cat Watch, said she was seeing the highest level of abuse and neglect for 20 years.
"I can understand people struggle to pay for these things – however, what I cannot understand is the increasing abuse, wilful abuse," she said.
"We're seeing horrendous injuries coming in, cats with wounds that are left untreated, and a lot of accidents that are left untreated, because no one will step in and help them."
Bradford Cat Watch is a volunteer-run organisation that nurses ill cats and helps them find homes.
Last year it rehomed 200 cats and raised more than £80,000.
Lloyd said she was receiving 50 to 60 calls a day and was often having to turn away animals in need.
"I can only hope that things improve, whether they do or not I don't know because in the last 20 years things have got significantly worse," she said
🚨 VIOLENT CAT STRANGLER RELEASED FROM PRISON
MAKE HIM FAMOUS!
⚠️ DANIEL WILLIAMS
🌍 FORMERLY OF LOWESTOFT
A man who was sentenced to four years and six months in 2024 after brutally killing a cat and leaving another with serious injuries has been released from prison
The court heard how in 2022, Daniel Williams entered a property in Lowestoft and caused damage before savagely strangling a pet cat to death and leaving another with such serious injuries it had to be euthanised.
The court was told that the cats would have suffered a shocking level of pain at the hands of Williams.
He also smashed the windows of a business in the area and sent threatening messages to people including a threat to assault someone with a baseball bat.
At court in 2024, he pleaded guilty to intentional suffocation, threatening to disclose private sexual images to cause distress, two counts of sending an electric communication containing a threat, two counts of damaging property and two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
As well as the 54-month custodial sentence, Williams was also handed a 10-year disqualification order under Section 34 of the Animal Welfare Act meaning he cannot own, keep or participate in the keeping of animals.
He was also made subject to a 10-year restraining order.
Source UK Database.
Another bear that did nothing wrong was brutally killed. The sensationalist, attention-grabbing reporting that chased after a bear that had come down from the mountain, lost its way home, and was in a panic, only made the bear out to be the villain. The bear, which had likely not eaten or drunk, had also lost one of its arms in a trap. In the end, a veterinarian shot it with a tranquilizer gun and stabbed it in the heart with a knife. Why didn't they just let it go back into the mountains? This bear was simply trying to escape. This happened yesterday in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Please send your protests: https://t.co/VhB0hRMkp6
Another arsehole.
🚨 CONVICTED | Matthew Edward Perry, 39, from #pontardawe, #swansea Valley – starved his elderly dalmatian to emaciation and left her in pain with a burst abscess.
Perry took the body of his 13-year-old dalmatian, Pepper, to a veterinary practice in August 2025 so she could be cremated.
The vet was alarmed by the dog’s emaciated condition, however, and alerted the RSPCA.
In a written statement the vet wrote that Pepper’s ribs, spine and hip bones were prominent. She also showed signs of muscle mass loss and was given a body condition score of one out of nine.
“In this body condition she will have broken down muscle mass and will have been weak and uncomfortable, affecting her ability to exhibit natural behaviour,” said the vet.
“The dog also had a wound on her left maxilla (upper jawbone) which appeared to be a burst (and untreated) abscess.
“An abscess generally throbs and is tender to the touch due to the pressure of the pus buildup and would have been painful.”
It was estimated that Pepper had suffered for a minimum of three weeks.
She had not been seen by the practice since 2018.
Perry pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the needs of an animal were met, under the Animal Welfare Act.
Following the hearing, RSPCA Deputy Chief Inspector Gemma Cooper said: “All animals deserve to be treated with kindness and should have their needs met.”
Sentencing | three-month custodial suspended for 12 months; one-year community order with 15 days of ‘rehabilitation’; £400 in costs. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 10 years.
https://t.co/PEN7pTtW27
https://t.co/lpLJjOxruK
قضى الدب "سينوتشوك" نحو 9 سنوات داخل قفص معدني ضيق، لا تتجاوز مساحته 4 أمتار مربعة 💔
9 سنوات من القهر… أُجبر خلالها على أداء عروض السيرك، متنقّلًا داخل مركبات، محرومًا من أبسط حقوقه في الحرية
حياة كاملة سُرقت منه، فقط من أجل الترفيه على حساب معاناته
لكن لحظة إنقاذه كانت بداية حياة جديدة…
بعد نقله إلى موطنه الجديد، تغيّر كل شيء
أصبح دبًا سعيدًا، يستكشف، يلعب، ويعيش كما خُلق له أن يعيش
قصة "سينوتشوك" تذكير مؤلم بأن الحيوانات ليست وسيلة للترفيه، بل كائنات تشعر وتتألم
الرفق بالحيوان ليس خيارًا… بل إنسانية 💗
Animals die in blaze at soft play centre @BBCNews
The soft play centre recently opened an exotic pets area that was home to meerkats, snakes, tortoises, iguanas, owls and genets, according to posts on social media. None survived.
This is #madness, what are wild animals doing living in a soft play centre? Making money no doubt!!
It’s #cruel beyond belief
I despair of the human race
https://t.co/5gMbMgmscw
Habt ihr das Schicksal der Hündin Jette mitbekommen?
Dieses arme Tier wurde von ihrer Halterin erst vergiftet – und als sie nicht schnell genug starb, hat man sie mit der eigenen Leine an einer Treppe aufgehängt.
Es ist schwer in Worte zu fassen, wie abgrundtief krank und sadistisch man sein muss, um einem wehrlosen Lebewesen so etwas anzutun.
Diese Tat geht weit über bloße Tierquälerei hinaus – sie ist Ausdruck einer erschreckenden seelischen Verrohung.
Dass so etwas mitten in Deutschland möglich ist, sollte uns allen Übelkeit bereiten.
Gerechtigkeit für Jette.
Look at this cruelty, never in my life have I seen an elephant in such conditions we should weep in shame. Animal abuse shows its face again. @freebunka inside this shithole of a barn humans. Sorry Bunka 💔🐘💔
A man in China broke down after discovering his stolen dog had been sold and eaten.
The dog, Chutou, was not a stray.
He was an 8-year-old Border Collie with a collar, a GPS tracker, and more than 1.5 million followers online.
His owner, Guo, was travelling abroad when Chutou suddenly disappeared.
Surveillance footage reportedly showed the dog being taken.
Guo then traced what happened and found out something heartbreaking.
Chutou had allegedly been sold into the dog meat trade for around $34.
By the time his owner found out, it was already too late.
The dog had reportedly been eaten.
Guo broke down crying.
To him, Chutou was not property.
He was family.
The case has caused outrage in China, with many people pointing out that pets can still be treated mainly as property under the law, even when they are loved like children.
A dog with a name, a home, a collar, and a tracker was stolen and sold for the price of a cheap meal.
And his owner was left grieving a family member the law may not fully recognise.
Via Top 10s
Our support for activists saving dogs and cats from the heinous #DogCatMeatTrade in #Cambodia 🇰🇭
Sharing from Cambodianess .@TTNEnglish
➡️https://t.co/CcC2q67Orm…
"Seeking to expose Cambodia's dog and cat meat trade, animal welfare group FOUR PAWS .@fourpawsint has launched a new Khmer-language reporting platform for the public to share information on pet theft, animal transport and slaughter."
Read the story: https://t.co/NLWprYxAjL…
Reporting tool:
"This system provides an opportunity for members of the public and tourists to voluntarily share information on pet theft, the transportation, trading and slaughter of dogs and cats, as well as other acts of animal cruelty related to the dog and cat meat trade"
https://t.co/8ayvS36Gkx…
#EndDogMeatTrade #EndCatMeatTrade
Bagshot Park.
Homelessness at an all time high and we've got the royals Sophie and Edward living it up in a 120 room mansion.
Extraordinary. Who needs 120 rooms?
Bloody royals are costing us a fortune.
#BagshotPark
‘Dicks with sticks’ hitting friendly beings 👺All scumbags 🤬Don’t start that with: “this is not happening in my country” ..Animal abuse is everywhere on every fHarm and in every slaughterhouse 😡 #EndAnimalSlavery#StopTheTorture#LiveVegan be a real human ✌️