CALLOUS pet owners have abandoned almost 250 animals in Worcestershire this year – and a recent spate of kittens being dumped is only adding to this shocking statistic.

A pair of 10-week-old kittens were tossed from a car window and discarded on a busy road near Welland last Tuesday, while four kittens were thrown away at a refuse tip in Throckmorton, near Pershore, this week.

One two-week-old kitten, who was left to live amongst rubbish with its mother and three siblings in a Malvern garden, even lost a back-leg during its spell of homelessness.

The stories of these animals, who are now being cared for by RSPCA Worcester and Mid-Worcestershire, bring to life the cruelty behind new figures from the charity which reveal 237 animals in the county have been abandoned between January and September.

Geraldine Haynes, a volunteer at the local RSPCA branch, said: “It is absolutely awful that anyone could stoop to these depths of cruelty, discarding kittens that have done nothing wrong.

“To treat animals in this way is unbelievable and everybody has been horrified by the incidents.

“Caring for abandoned animals puts an increased strain on our funds, which are needed to pay for boarding and veterinary fees, and sometimes there is significant pressure on the space available.

“One of the real problems is that people are not having their cats spayed or neutered, they are breeding quickly and it is the kittens that end up being discarded.

“But there is no excuse because there are schemes to help people with the costs of getting their animals treated to stop them reproducing.

“Our branch is also currently fundraising to build a home and rescue centre for abandoned animals in Worcestershire which would help us cope with the constant demand for places.”

Maxine Stewart, branch co-ordinator at Worcester and District Cats Protection, similarly expressed her concern about the number of cats being dumped, labelling the lack of neutering taking place as a “self-perpetuating problem”.

She said the charity was “inundated” with abandoned felines and that there was “always a waiting list” for animals to be homed with a fosterer.

However it is not just cats which are being deserted in Worcestershire.

The RSPCA Worcester and Mid-Worcestershire branch also deals with smaller pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs, which are cared for in foster homes, while dogs are similarly being abandoned in worrying numbers.

Pip Singleton, dog warden and animal welfare officer at Worcestershire Regulatory Services, said: “Some of the conditions we have found dogs in have been abhorrent and appalling and I just can’t understand why owners let their pets get into these states.

“2014 has been one of our most difficult years and we have seen an increase in the number of stray dogs being picked up.

“There has also been a rise in the emergency veterinary bills stray dogs have needed for anything from broken legs to flea or worm infections and canine parvovirus.

“People are not bothering to pay for basic veterinary care for their dogs and eventually are abandoning them, and we think this trend is down to the credit crunch and financial difficulties for households.

“Members of the public often don’t realise the work and cost that goes into owning a dog and if they dump their canines this will just pile more pressure on already strained rescue centres.”

The dog warden added that she is “here to help, not to judge” and urged pet owners to contact her for assistance rather than considering abandoning their animals.

Nationally the RSPCA has been called out to deal with 29,770 reports of abandoned animals so far in England and Wales this year, with Greater London the worst region with 2,136 cases and the West Midlands fourth highest with 1,428.

Worcestershire therefore fared far better, with just 237 cases, making it the region with the ninth lowest number of abandoned animals out of a list of 47 areas.

Kelly Rivers, RSPCA Midlands superintendent, said: “Even in a nation of animal lovers there are thousands of people out there who don’t care about their pets at all and in fact some literally treat them like rubbish.

“Worse still, holidays like Christmas can lead to an increase in abandonment as some people choose to get rid of their pets rather than pay for them to be looked after while they are on holiday.

“Money may be spent on holidays and Christmas presents rather than seeking vet attention for ill or newborn animals, so they are dumped.

“It’s bad enough when we find a box of kittens wrapped in blankets on our doorstep with a note, but now people are deliberately dumping their animals in out of the way places - like bins, skips or on waste ground - and leaving them to an unknown fate.”

For more details visit rspca-worcester.co.uk, worcestercats.org.uk or contact Worcestershire Regulatory Service's dog warden service on 01905 822799.