FOR most pet owners, the thought of causing physical harm to our furry friends is too gut-wrenching to comprehend.
But heartbreaking figures from the RSCPA show a shocking rise in the number of animals suffering physical cruelty in England and Wales.
Calls to its cruelty line about intentional harm to animals has increased by 14 per cent.
Last month a 23-year-old, Lewis Hudson, was jailed for two years and three months after pleading guilty to two counts of animal cruelty towards his girlfriend's kitten – one of the longest sentences ever imposed for the crime.
For months, sick Hudson abused the helpless moggy, called Binx, held her under scalding water and even shot her with bleach-infused pellets from a BB gun, while owner Summer Leadbetter was out at work.
When Summer discovered the abuse, she tried to protect 11-month-old Binx, calling in sick to work and even trying to re-home her.
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Despite her efforts, monstrous Hudson ended up beating Binx to death with a shovel.
Summer, 23, from Whiston, Merseyside, who is speaking out to pay tribute to Binx and raise awareness of animal abuse, tells The Sun: “What Lewis did to Binx is sickening.
“I just want her back, and no amount of time in jail will ever give me that."
Summer started dating Hudson in early 2021 and by August that year, they’d moved in together.
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13
13For months, she tried to persuade Hudson to get a kitten, and that November, a friend’s cat had a litter.
Summer explains: “When I went to visit them, and one kept coming up to me. I took her home and named her Binx.
“She was a lively little ball of fluff.”
But at six weeks old, Summer noticed a lump on her eye.
She says: “A week later, when it had finally healed, Lewis told me that he’d hit Binx because she wouldn’t stop meowing. I was distraught.
“He told me that it would never happen again.”
After that Summer says Binx seemed wary around Hudson and would cower when he walked near her.
A month later Summer left Binx with Lewis to pop to the shop when he texted her saying: "You better come home, the cat’s getting battered."
Summer says: “I raced home and the bathroom was steaming. Lewis was holding Binx under the shower, pouring scolding water over her.
“I was screaming and crying for him to stop, but he wouldn’t.
“When he finally let me see her she was panting and red-hot to touch. I dabbed a cold flannel on her to try and cool her down.
“I was beside myself and desperate to protect her."
Unbeknown to Summer, Lewis tortured Binx on a weekly basis while she was at work. He’d soak pellets of a BB gun in bleach and shoot them at her.
When Summer found out she’d call in sick so she could stay home to protect her pet.
She explains: “I was so frightened of Lewis. I knew he’d abuse her if I wasn’t in. Eventually he wouldn't let me leave the house or allow any of my family round.
I raced home and the bathroom was steaming. Lewis was holding Binx under the shower, pouring scolding water over her
“If I did quickly go to the shop for groceries, he’d hurt Binx just to get me back home. I felt so trapped.”
One day in June 2022, when Summer returned home from work, Binx was lying in the shower, drooling and lifeless.
Panicked she took her to the vets whilst Lewis was out and they gave her injections.
She lied to staff, saying Binx jumped into the mop bucket and drank cleaning fluids.
Summer says: “When Lewis found out I'd taken her that night, he was so angry. He'd forbidden me from taking her in the past.”
Sinister texts
Days later Summer was watching funny cat videos on her phone when Lewis showed her footage of him stamping on Binx while wearing steel-toe cap boots.
“He grabbed my face and forced me to watch the video," Summer claims. “I was hysterical.”
Summer says she constantly tried to convince Lewis to re-home Binx to give her a better life, but he threatened her if she did.
In August, Summer briefly went to the shops with her mum and sister. While she was there, she says Hudson bombarded her with calls and texts saying he was going to kill Binx.
In one he wrote: "Everyone in your family thinks I’m soft because I’m polite and quiet to them. I’ll show them the real me if they want."
Summer says: “I knew he was going to do something bad. We rushed back and there was blood everywhere.”
Summer found Binx’s lifeless body on the bathroom floor. Hudson had beat her with a shovel with such force it knocked her teeth out.
Summer remembers: “I was beside myself. I tried to pick her up, but I passed out.”
Summer's sister rang the police and they arrested Hudson. The following day the RSPCA took Binx away to examine her and discovered her ribs had been fractured and her lung was punctured.
Summer says: “I couldn’t eat for weeks and was too traumatised to even get in the shower.”
Last month Hudson pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty and one count of harassment at Liverpool Crown Court and was sentenced to two years and three months in prison, and handed a lifetime ban of pet ownership.
Summer paid to have Binx cremated so that she can remain close to her, and has a tattoo of Binx’s name on her arm.
“Anyone who does something like that to animals shouldn’t be allowed to breathe," she says. "It’s sickening.”
In 2022, 77 per cent of all cruelty complaints reported to the RSPCA were beatings, and the charity saw a 22 per cent increase in reports of beatings (9,658 in 2022, compared to 7,857 in 2021) – 26 every day.
The number of animals killed in ‘suspicious circumstances’ increased in 2022 by 15 per cent from by 2021 (891 in 2022, compared to 775 in 2021).
The RSPCA suggested the end of the Covid pandemic and the soaring cost of living are possible factors contributing to the rise.
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The charity has launched its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, to raise funds to help its frontline rescue teams continue to save animals from cruelty and abuse and to raise awareness about how to stop cruelty to animals for good.
To help support the RSPCA visit: www.rspca.org.uk/stopcruelty
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