Wodonga’s ranking as worst in the region for animal cruelty comes as no surprise to Wodonga Dog Rescue president Peta McRae.
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RSPCA Victoria released a list of hotspots on Wednesday, after 11,840 incidents were reported across the state last year.
Of these, 98 happened in Wodonga, ranked 45th out of 79 local government areas – worse than Wangaratta (ranked 51), Indigo (63), Alpine (65) and Towong (76).
Ms McRae has acquired four animals in the past month that had been removed from owners by the RSPCA.
She is currently talking with a Port Macquarie family interested in adopting Monti and Trouble.
“Someone had rung the RSPCA about them, saying they really needed to be seen,” Ms McRae said.
“They were living outside in long grass with rubbish everywhere – the conditions were bad.
“Monti was really skinny and his skin is still not very good.”
Data showed all but 10 of the Wodonga call-outs were to do with dogs and puppies, with 50 reports linked to concerns of underweight animals.
Others cases involved hygiene and grooming, sick animals not receiving treatment, and reports of insufficient feeding.
There were eight concerns of animals being beaten or wounded.
RSPCA Victoria chief executive Liz Walker said it was concerning how many cruelty cases of that nature had been reported across the state – 1345.
“Beating or wounding is at the severe end of the cruelty scale, and the fact that we had 1345 reports of animals being harmed in this way last year, means it is a major issue and of serious concern,” she said.
“Statewide, all cruelty reports increased from 10,740 in 2014 to around 12,000 in 2015 – an increase of just under 12 per cent.”
Ms McRae, who now runs the dog rescue at 180 Sangsters Road in Wodonga, said the report outlined the need to treat pets well.
“If you’re not going to look after your animals, dogs, horses, cats – anything, don’t get them,” she said.
“They’re part of the family.”