The RSPCA is bracing itself for another busy festive season after it received 934 calls on Christmas Day in 2018 – the highest number for five years.
RSPCA inspector, animal welfare officers, and animal centre staff work 365 days a year to care for animals and Christmas is no exception. 
In 2018, the charity saw a 28% increase on call received to its cruelty line compared to 2017. December itself is a busy month with 59,121 calls received – 2,530 of these in just one day.
Between December 18 and January 2 in 2018, there were 30,188 calls – another increase compared with the 25,721 calls received the year before.
Dermot Murphey, RSPCA Chief Inspectorate Officer, said: “Sadly each year our officers are out recuing animals from cruelty and neglect, often made worse by adverse weather conditions. This same week for the previous two year has been the busiest week of December so I know our cruelty line is going to be inundated with calls reporting concerns to us.
“That’s why this year we have launched our Stock the Sleigh appeal to help the 10,000 animals we expect to take in in just over the winter as we cannot do this alone, we need help and kindness from the general public. Just £25 could help us keep answering these phone calls every day of the year as well as providing a safe bed and food for a animal in need.”
Already this winter the RSPCA has seen incidents including:
- On December 2 the RSPCA launched an appeal after 30 dead and dying Koi Carp were found dumped in Basingstoke
- On November 28 the RSPCA was called to rescue two swans shot in the head in a canal in Chichester
- On December 3 the RSPCA took in a young cat from Luton believed to have been abandoned by her owners before being callously shot in the head.
If you can help deliver vital supplied to neglected and homeless animals left out in the cold this Christmas, you can visit www.rspca.org.uk/giftofkindness.
