These southern suburbs top WA animal cruelty list

Baldivis is on track to top WA’s list of animal cruelty hotspots for the second year running with neighbouring Rockingham among the top five worst-offending suburbs.

The RSPCA has revealed 40 reports were made through the organisation’s Cruelty Hotline between January 1 and April 30 this year.

Baldivis was Perth’s number one animal cruelty hotspot overall in 2016 with a total of 118 cruelty reports.

Rockingham is fifth with 25 reports from January to April. It was named the fifth-worst suburb in 2016 with 66 reports overall.

RSPCA WA chief inspector Amanda Swift said she was not surprised by the data, calling the southern Perth metroplitan region a problem area for animal welfare issues.

“There are some suburbs in the southern part of Perth where animal cruelty is prevalent, and while we’ve been working to improve standards of animal welfare in these areas we’re still seeing a high level of cruelty taking place, which is very concerning,” she said.

“Regionally, the majority of reports come from areas where our regional inspectors are stationed. That’s because when we place an inspector in a region, the number of cruelty reports for that area go up because people know they can depend on us for help.

“We do still respond to reports in areas where inspectors are not placed by seeking assistance from the local police or shire rangers however we know this is just the tip of the iceberg.

“We desperately need more inspectors throughout WA as we currently have just 11 and we are aware of cruelty happening in locations where we can’t get to.”

RSPCA WA Inspectors are responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act (2002)in Western Australia.

There are currently seven Inspectors covering the Perth Metro area, and four regional Inspectors located in Bunbury, Geraldton, Albany and Kalgoorlie.

Mandurah was the third worst offending suburb in 2016 (71 reports) but is currently sitting in eighth place with 18 reports recorded this year.