EVERY year the RSPCA publishes appalling reports of animal cruelty. And we all wonder at the people who could inflict so much suffering on fellow creatures.

This year's files are more sickening than ever. North Yorkshire's many dog and horse enthusiasts will be horrified by tales of dogs locked in their own filth, or horses destroyed after their hooves became grotesquely overgrown.

Complaints to the RSPCA in this county have risen by ten per cent, reflecting a trend which brings shame to a supposedly animal loving nation.

Once we regarded the culprits as either pitiless or pitiful. Some sadists have always got a power kick from hurting pets. Then there were those inadequate people whose devotion to animals morphed into an obsession until they were left with more creatures than they could cope with.

Such clichd classifications do not explain the RSPCA's new figures. The charity reports a 78 per cent hike in the number of animals it found whose basic needs were not being met, and a 96 per cent increase in those without access to water.

It is neglect on a mass scale, and suggests that the diminishing levels of respect in society apply as much to animals as to our fellow man.

With prosecutions falling in North Yorkshire it is clear the RSPCA needs greater powers to curb the abusers. It has long called for a tough Animal Welfare Bill: these figures should shock the Government into action.

Updated: 11:18 Wednesday, July 20, 2005