RSPCA reports concern over knife crime
Following recent news of a rise in knife crime on Britain’s streets, the RSPCA is raising awareness of high levels of these crimes against animals.
Over the past three years, the charity said it has received around 420 calls about animals injured by knives - an average of three a week.
Assistant director to the inspectorate, Dermot Murphy, said: “The country has been horrified by the tragic toll that knife crime is having on young people in our towns and cities. Sadly, we are seeing far too many shocking incidents of blades also being used on animals. These figures are a shocking representation of our times.”
The charity launched its education and prevention programme Generation Kind last year, in a bid to promote compassion and empathy for animals.
Mr Murphy added: “We hope that by focusing on behaviour change for the next generation we will be able to see a change in the way we as a society treat animals. Sadly, violent behaviour towards animals can go hand in hand with brutal behaviour towards other people and we hope our education programme can help promote a society which is kinder to animals and each other.”
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
