Tony Crittenden, the RSPCA's chief officer of the Inspectorate, said that he was shocked by the barbarity people show to animals.

He said: "Every year we deal with cases that shock, but never before have we seen such a catalogue of horrifying and vicious acts of deliberate cruelty and torture towards defenceless animals.

"The fact that some of the worst incidents involve children is of particular concern. The images from some of these cases will stay in our inspectors' minds for a long time."

Mo, a tabby and white female cat, from Calne, is one example.

She was rescued by the RSPCA after becoming caught in an illegal gin trap.

The cat was reunited with her owners more than two weeks after going missing from her Wiltshire home.

Her injuries were so severe that vets in Chippenham had to amputate one of her legs.

Traps of this kind, which are designed to catch foxes and rabbits, have been outlawed since 1954 when the Pest Act came into force.

Thirty neglected guinea pigs also form part of the statistics.

They were found dumped at an isolated barn by the A338 at Newton Toney, near Amesbury.

The animals, four of which had died, were discovered by a farmer.

Using nets and humane traps, RSPCA inspector Will Hendry collected the animals.

He used the incident to press home the importance of getting pets neutered.

Inspector Hendry said: "It is incidents like this, which illustrate just how important it is to get pets neutered.

"Numbers can quickly escalate to a point where numbers simply become unmanageable and we are then faced with situations where unwanted animals are simply disposed of like second-hand goods."