Animal cruelty convictions in Midlands number more than 400

A total of 406 people were convicted of animal cruelty in the Midlands area in 2013 by the RSPCA.

The figure is down around 9% from 2012 when 448 people were convicted of animal cruelty.

The charity’s officers in the Midlands investigated 47,858 complaints in 2013 compared with 47,426 in 2012.

Nationally, 153,770 complaints of cruelty were investigated by inspectors, an increase of 150,833 in 2012.