EAST Lancashire is shamed today by an RSPCA report damning it as a blackspot for cruelty to animals.

This shock disclosure comes as the number of animals rescued by RSPCA inspectors in Lancashire almost doubles in a year.

How well dumb creatures are treated by supposedly superior human beings has, of course, long been a yardstick of how decent and ethical a particular society is - and so our region's reputation is sadly sullied by this catalogue of cruelty.

But whether animal cruelty stems from thoughtless neglect or sheer brutality, it must never be tolerated.

And if this shameful record cannot be turned by education, it must be cured by the full force of the law being brought down on the offenders by the courts.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.