STARVED, neglected, forced to live in squalor - the grim face of animal cruelty in North Yorkshire has been revealed in shocking new figures today.

Sickened RSPCA inspectors investigated more than 3,000 cases of suspected animal cruelty reported by members of the public across the county last year - 320 more than in 2003.

Nationally, the figures showed a huge rise in the number of animals not getting the most basic care and attention.

The appalling scenes discovered in North Yorkshire included a dozen dogs found covered in sores, bites and bruises in Scarborough after living and sleeping in their own waste in a filthy bungalow.

Paul Stilgoe, the RSPCA's chief inspector in North and East Yorkshire, investigated the case.

He said: "It was horrendous. There was a bitch shut in a downstairs toilet - it was two inches deep in faeces. A puppy came crawling out of the bath, its coat was so filthy it looked like a hedgehog."

The father and son who owned the dogs were banned from keeping animals for life after admitting causing unnecessary suffering.

In South Cowton, near Northallerton, inspectors found three horses whose hooves had become so grotesquely overgrown that two of them had to be put down.

The surviving stallion, called Mungo, had hooves 20 inches long and curled like ram's horns. Manure five feet deep lay in his stable, where the roof had partially collapsed.

The owner was jailed for causing horrific suffering to the animals.

Across the county, 3,216 unwanted or abandoned animals were rescued by the RSPCA, and 27 people ignored the advice they received from inspectors as to how better to treat their animals. Those convicted for animal-related offences totalled 13, less than half the figure for the previous year.

Chief Inspector Stilgoe said this could have been because they were fewer offences per person than in previous years.

The shock figures were branded "shameful" by the RSPCA's northern manager, Alan Wolinski.

Now the charity is urging public support for an Animal Welfare Bill, which would toughen up regulations governing animal care.

At the moment, animals have to be classed as actually suffering before their owners can be prosecuted. But under the new bill, owners could be charged if they were found to be breaching an animal's rights - such as denying it a clean environment or access to water.

"There's no reason for a lot of these offences to go on," said chief inspector Stilgoe. "There's no reason not to get animals treated with the amount of charities there to help."

Animals most commonly involved with the RSPCA in the North of England:

Dogs and puppies: 6,638

Farm animals: 4,581

Small domestic animals: 1,937

Cats and kittens: 1,907

Equines: 1,572

National figures:

The number of animals whose basic needs are not being met: 68,732

Animals with no access to water: 19,352

Animals suffering because RSPCA advice is ignored: 2,924

Dogs not getting basic care: 18,334

Updated: 08:27 Wednesday, July 20, 2005