Animals in Coventry and Warwickshire are the victims of more cruelty than ever before according to horrifying details released by the RSPCA.

Figures released today show that the society received a record amount of calls reporting cases of neglect and violence to animals in the region.

New research is now  being commissioned into why people are cruel to animals following the surge in offences by adults and children.

In the RSPCA’s West Central region there were 16,096 cruelty complaints – an increase of 19.8 per cent, and 129 convictions were secured. Over 210,000 calls to the cruelty and advice line were made.

In the Birmingham and West Midlands section, which includes Coventry, the number of cruelty investigations rose by more than 33 per cent to 4,319.

The number of prosecutions nearly trebled to 53.

Warwickshire saw a small rise in the number of complaints investigated - 1,750 - but a fall in the number of convictions.

One the most shocking cases experienced by inspectors was when a starving German shepherd dog was forced to eat the body of a dead Rottweiler after the pair were abandoned in a Coventry flat.

Anthony Valentine moved out of the flat in Nauls Mill House, Middlesborough Road, Radford in April 1997, and left the dogs with no food or water for two months.

The German shepherd died before he was discovered.

Inspector Paul Kempson, who was called to the ninth floor flat in June 1997 to investigate, said:

“The whole flat smelt very strongly of rotting flesh, excrement and urine. The floors of the lounge, kitchen and outside balcony were covered in a large amount of dog excrement.”

He found the dead German shepherd weighing less than a third of his ideal weight, and part of the pelt and jawbone of the Rottweiler nearby.

A vet said the Rottweiler was either killed by the other dog to calm his hunger, or died from starvation.

He said:

“The meat and fluid contained in the carcass could well have sustained the German shepherd for a period of two to three weeks but then it would, in its turn, have starved.

“Both dogs would have suffered a prolonged and terrifying ordeal, probably including a fight to the death.”

Valentine, aged 40, denied permitting unnecessary suffering to the German shepherd, claiming the dogs were not his, but was found guilty at Coventry Magistrates Court when he failed to appear for his trial.

He disappeared but was eventually traced and sentenced to five months in prison in March 1999, and banned from keeping any animal for life.

There will be cheap microchipping of pet cats and dogs at the RSPCA Animal Centre in Coundon Wedge Drive, Allesley all week as part of activities to raise awareness of the charity’s work.

Each pet can have a microchip inserted and stored on a national database for £10 – half the normal price. If the animal is lost it means it can easily be found and re-united with its owner.