A SHAMEFUL catalogue of abuse and neglect was outlined by RSPCA staff this week as the release of last year's figures revealed yet another rise in animal cruelty in West Kent.

Rescues, written cautions and prosecutions all rose significantly in 2001, compared to the previous year, and the number of convictions for animal cruelty rocketed from 48 in 2000 to 80 last year.

Chief Inspector Steve Dockery, who is responsible for the seven RSPCA inspectors in West Kent, said: "Unfortunately, the numbers seem to go up every year and there's nothing to suggest that that situation is likely to change in the foreseeable future.

"People prove time and time again that they just don't know how to look after even non-exotic animals like dogs and cats."

Among the cruelty cases from last year highlighted by the RSPCA was that of Fly, who was severely underweight and suffering from an horrific skin condition when found roaming the streets of Maidstone by an inspector.

Fly's owner, Michael Connors, 41, of Bell Road, Park Wood, was jailed for three months and banned from keeping any animals for three years in September 2001 after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to the lurcher.

Chief Inspector Dockery said: "The only action that the owners had taken to tackle the awful mange was to bathe the dog in diesel bought from a petrol station. It beggars belief. The condition is easily treated by a vet, but the pain and discomfort of that animal must have been intense."

Other cases included that of Linford, a dog who lived in appalling conditions in a Chatham terraced house with more than 100 other animals, and Brandy, a terrier who had been so badly starved by her Dartford owners that she was unable to lift her head off the floor.

All three of the animals have been nursed back to health and visited the RSPCA's Leybourne Animal Centre in Castle Way, Leybourne, this week with their new owners.