LAST year the RSPCA took more calls about abandoned animals than it had ever done before.

The charity took 28,162 abandonment calls last year – compared to 27,755 in 2010 – and 5,287 of those came from the Wales and West region, of which Worcestershire is a part of.

While leaders are concerned about the increase in calls, overall they were slightly heartened by the fact the RSPCA received 313 calls about abandonments during the first five days of January compared to 390 in the same period last year.

Of those, 50 were from the Wales and West region compared to 64 last year.

Inspector Tony Woodley said: “Usually we see many more abandonments in the summer rather than around Christmas.

“The fact that the number of abandonments last December had decreased is slightly encouraging.

“Although it is tempting to blame the economic situation, we have no real idea of why the number of abandonments is increasing overall.”