THE City of Swan has been revealed as the state’s top animal cruelty hotspot for 2024-25 by the RSPCA with 662 complaints in that period.

Most reports concerned dogs and puppies, followed by cats and kittens, birds, livestock, and horses.

A total of 7195 cruelty reports involving 9230 animals were investigated across WA in 2024-25 – 57 more than the previous year.

Chief operating officer Hannah Dreaver said despite a modest increase in the number of reports, the scale and complexity of last year’s cases had put unprecedented pressure on the organisation.

“Most significantly, inspectors seized three times as many animals as the year prior – a rise that drove sharp increases in vet work, prosecutions, and care days at RSPCA WA’s shelter,” she said.

“The rise in seized animal numbers was a major factor in making 2024-25 one of the busiest and most complex years we’ve ever faced.

“Seized animals are often victims of large-scale cruelty such as puppy farms or hoarding and many seized animals have endured severe neglect meaning they need to stay much longer in our care than animals that are surrendered or strays.

“They generally need more intensive vet treatment and behaviour support, while our inspectors and legal team spend longer amounts of time on more complex prosecutions. All of this adds up to more pressure across the organisation.”

General abuse and cruelty were the highest category of reports received for the year, followed by insufficient care, and abandonment.

During 2024-25 more than 2000 animals came into RSPCA WA’s care, care days were up 24 per cent, from 116,564 to 144,261, vet consults and surgeries increased 35 per cent from 9074 to 12,271, finalised prosecutions were up from 36 to 41 and the number of animals involved in those prosecutions were up 175 per cent from 88 to 242.