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Sixty-three reports of animals being deliberately attacked with lethal weapons have been made to the RSPCA since the turn of the decade, the charity has revealed.

These include attacks using crossbows, air guns, catapults and slingshots.

Of these 63 cases reported between January 2020 and May 2023, five happened in Caerphilly County Borough.

Across England and Wales, 808 reports were received, of which 658 involved air guns and rifles, while slingshots and catapults accounted for 124 incidents.

A further 34 calls involved crossbows.

Of the 808 reports, some involved multiple weapons, or multiple animals being targeted at the same time.

The RSPCA released the figures as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, which aims to raise funds so its frontline rescue teams can continue to save animals from cruelty and abuse such as deadly weapon attacks.

RSPCA national wildlife coordinator Geoff Edmond said: “It is unspeakably cruel, totally unacceptable and illegal to shoot animals for ‘fun’ – or as target practice, but sadly our emergency line is receiving hundreds of reports.

“Day after day, our frontline officers and animal centres see the sickening consequences of weapons being used on animals – severe injuries often leading to death.

“What we deal with is probably only the tip of the iceberg as not all cases will be reported to the RSPCA directly and there may be situations where animals injured and killed by these weapons are sadly never found – especially in the case of wildlife.”

The RSPCA’s figures also show under-threat wildlife bore the brunt of the attacks, with 841 birds, including waterfowl and marine birds, shot by a gun or crossbow or hit by a catapult since the beginning of 2020.

The figures also show pets were a prime target, with 262 cats deliberately attacked with weapons, while 59 dogs were attacked.