CASES of shocking animal cruelty across the county have significantly increased, RSPCA figures reveal.

The report, published this week, showed 1,596 complaints of animal cruelty were investigated in Worcestershire during 2016 – a 5.4 per cent increase from 1,513 in 2015.

Among the cases were starving dogs Demon and Bruno, who were so badly neglected by their Kidderminster owners their ribs showed through their fur.

The emaciated dogs' plight was reported to the RSPCA by a concerned member of the public, and his owners – a man and a woman – were disqualified from keeping dogs for five years at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court in October 2016.

RSPCA Inspector Suzi Smith said: "I was shocked to see the state of them.

"Both Bruno and Demon were so thin I could see all their bones protruding, even despite Demon's thick coat.

"It later transpired that Demon was suffering with non-regenerative anaemia caused by his extremely thin body condition.

"Bruno weighed little over 11kg at seizure and Demon just weighed 14kg, practically half of what they should ideally weigh."

Demon, a husky, has since be rehomed in Hereford and is now named Lucci – after opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.

Sally Palmer, who adopted Lucci, said: "Wherever we go in the car he will be singing away. It’s quite a racket and he certainly gets a lot of attention.

"He’s absolutely adorable. He loves everybody and everybody loves him. Lucci can’t stop wagging his tail and dances whenever he greets someone.

"When I see him like that and the joy and love he has for life it makes me angry to think that someone could have treated him so cruelly.

"When we first welcomed him he was still very underweight and had a poorly tummy. He is doing brilliantly now, although he is still obsessed with food – most likely because he was made to go without.

"I think it just takes a bit of time and patience to help rescue dogs get over the awful memories they may have by replacing them with love and kindness."

Bruno, a Staffordshire bull terrier, has also found a new home in Wiltshire.

Nationally, there were 400 allegations of animal cruelty every day last year – a total of 148,604 and a rise of nearly 5 per cent from 2015.

Dermot Murphy, assistant director of the RSPCA Inspectorate, said: "I believe that the figures from last year show that we’re not becoming crueler, but that people are simply less willing to stand by and do nothing if they think an animal is suffering."