THE RSPCA received more than 1,000 cat-related animal cruelty calls from Oxfordshire residents last year.

From stuck cats to cats subjected to neglect, abuse or abandonment, its cruelty line took 1,027 concerned calls in the county in 2018.

The animal welfare charity released the figures today ahead of International Cat Day tomorrow, and said there were 16,200 such calls made in the South East and 100,000 across England and Wales.

Across the country, its officers rescued more cats last year than any other animal.

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Alice Potter, RSPCA’s cat welfare expert said: "Cats end up needing our help for a variety of reasons, for example their natural curiosity can mean they need rescuing when they get into scrapes and tricky situations.

"There are also some real issues that we see time and again including cats and kittens being abandoned, cats having unplanned and unwanted pregnancies due to a lack of neutering and multi-cat households where breeding has sadly become out of control."

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RSPCA Oxfordshire is currently looking to rehome an 11-year-old domestic shorthair crossbreed called Millie, whose owner was taken ill in hospital.

Last month the charity rescued four kittens from Pegasus Road in Blackbird Leys, which were dumped in a cardboard box.

At the time, RSPCA Inspector Andy Eddy said: “The kittens are very lucky to have been found - they could have easily died if they’d not been spotted in time.

“It’s unacceptable that someone has just left them at the roadside in a box."

During summer months the charity sees an 85 per cent increase in the number of reports of dumped animals.