NOT a single case of alleged attacks on animals in Basildon resulted in successful prosecutions for cruelty, new figures reveal.

Police data shows from 2013 to 2017 there were 24 crimes logged which involved killing or attacking animals in the Basildon district including livestock and family pets.

However, no successful charges were brought in any of the cases.

In Southend, less than a third of alleged attacks led to prosecution. The data showed that only three of the 17 alleged attacks recorded led to charges.

The remaining 14 investigations that were carried out by Essex Police proved fruitless with no culprit being identified..

Basildon had the second highest amount of attacks on animals in Essex over the past five years, only behind Epping Forest which had 27.

In total, there were 253 crimes against animals in Essex with 169 being unresolved.

Successful cases included a 28-year-old man who was jailed and banned from keeping animals after violently beating his girlfriend’s dog.

The man appeared in Basildon Magistrates’ Court after he was caught by CCTV showing him beating his girlfriend’s Staffordshire Bull Terrier in a lift of a block of flats in Essex.

It showed the man kicking and stamping on the dog, leaving the CCTV operator “horrified” and “sickened” when reviewing the tape.

RSPCA inspector Adam Jones said “The beating inflicted on this poor dog was unbelievable. He clearly intended to hurt the dog.

“Its eye was blood-shot and she was covered in bruises after the attack. The dogs’ owner ended the relationship after she found out what he had done.”

The man admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the dog by beating it was sentenced to 20 weeks in jail and was ordered to pay £300 towards costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

The RSPCA revealed that Essex was eighth on its list of most complaints received in the UK in 2016, with 4,566. A spokesman said: “Sadly across the country we are seeing an increase in the number of animal cruelty reports and the RSPCA investigated more than 400 allegations of animal cruelty every day in 2016, a rise of nearly five per cent compared to the previous 12 months.

“It could be down to the fact people are simply less willing to stand by and do nothing if they think an animal is suffering.

“People are increasingly likely to share images or footage on social media of animals they believe are not being cared for properly. It can sometimes be difficult to find culprits of animal cruelty where the victim is unable to provide information themselves in the way that a person can.”