More than 1,000 calls to cat cruelty line in Shropshire

The RSPCA's cruelty line received 1,173 calls in the county in the last year, and 16,000 throughout the West Midlands - an average of two an hour.

Across England and Wales the charity received more than 100,000 calls and rescues more cats than any other animal.

Alice Potter, RSPCA’s cat welfare expert said: “It’s sad to see that we have received so many calls about cats in need. Cats end up needing our help for a variety of reasons, for example their natural curiosity can mean they need rescuing when they get into scrapes and tricky situations. There are also some real issues that we see time and again including cats and kittens being abandoned, cats having unplanned and unwanted pregnancies due to a lack of neutering and multi-cat households where breeding has sadly become out of control.

“However, there are many cats who are much luckier and are very much a part of the family and loved by their owners who understand their likes and dislikes, their little quirks and routines. Every cat is an individual but there are some signs we can look out for to see how our cats are feeling through understanding their body language and behaviour to ensure they are happy and healthy.”

Anyone who would like to rehome and RSPCA cat should visit the website www.rspca.org.uk/findapet