EVERY year at this time, our credentials as a nation of animal lovers are called into question. The RSPCA's annual report has shown yet another increase in the number of animal cruelty complaints.

In North Yorkshire and the East Riding, the charity investigated about ten per cent more cases than the year before. Its officers rescued thousands of creatures, often from appalling suffering. But convictions for cruelty went down.

This reflects the national picture. More people than ever before are calling the RSPCA, suggesting a greater willingness by the public to report possible cruelty cases. That, at least, is a positive: we are no longer minded to look the other way.

Yet despite increased public vigilance, prosecutions have fallen.

The RSPCA believes that the law is the problem. It wants a "bill of rights" for pets, giving them statutory guarantee of enough food and water, comfortable cages or resting areas, and veterinary treatment when needed.

Imposing such a "duty of care" on owners would allow the RSPCA to intervene long before an animal was seriously mistreated, it said.

Animal welfare minister Elliot Morley wants to update the existing laws, created in 1911. But any new legislation is unlikely to go as far as this.

At the heart of this issue is a simple fact: virtually all animal cruelty cases revolve around neglect. Few deliberately harm animals, but countless people take on more than they can cope with. They do not realise how big and hungry that fluffy puppy will become. They become bored with their pet. They are too lazy or too inadequate to spend the time and money that an animal needs.

These are the people who undermine our animal-loving reputation. Practical, carefully considered new laws will help. But better education is the key.

If the RSPCA can work alongside the pet trade to teach children and parents about their duty of care towards an animal, and the true effort involved in looking after one, we could reduce this shameful toll of neglect.

Updated: 10:33 Tuesday, April 30, 2002