South East sees rise in summer reports of animal cruelty
Kent received the most reports in the region, seeing an increase of 10% with 903 in June and August 2024.Across both East and West Sussex, there were 738 animal animal cruelty reports in the same period, up more than 18% on the previous year.While Surrey had the biggest increase in the region with a rise of 34% - 398 reports between June and August 2024, up from 298 in 2023.Speaking on BBC Radio Surrey, RSPCA animal rescue officer Ben Fitzcosta said the summer was the local branch's busiest period."We are slightly concerned how much that is going to increase this year," he added.
The RPSCA says it fears the national increase is due partly to a fall-out following the rise in pet ownership during the pandemic.The charity says it also usually sees a spike in reports over the summer as longer days mean more people are out and likely to spot cruelty.RSPCA chief inspector Ian Briggs said: "This year, sadly, we fear the trend will continue and we are already busier than ever rescuing animals from many awful situations."
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‘Police aren't helping, so I'm shaming the shoplifters myself'
After growing frustrated with reporting shoplifters to the police only to see no action taken, Suki Athwal resorted to the age-old tactic of shame. The co-owner of the Shop Around the Clock convenience store in Tenterden, an affluent market town in Kent, decided to print a screenshot of a customer pocketing an energy drink and post it on his shop window with the message 'I'm a thief and I love Red Bull': However, he soon received a visit from a community support officer who advised him to remove the poster as it could be a violation of data protection laws. 'I was a bit young and naive, so I took it down,' Athwal, a marketing graduate from Plymouth University, said. Police inaction brought Athwal back to shaming the shoplifters, in full knowledge that he, not the criminals, could be warned about breaking the case, which took place prior to the pandemic, is one of a reported growing number of incidents in which shopkeepers are being warned about posting video of shoplifters. Last week, North Wales police were reported to have told a shopkeeper to take down a sign calling shoplifters 'scumbags' because it could cause offence. Earlier this week, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data watchdog, said that putting up images of thieves in a local area could breach data protection laws. Data protection laws allow retailers to share images to prevent or detect crime as long as it's necessary and 'appropriate'. Guidance by the ICO said that while sharing the suspect's details with police, security guards, and other local shops is acceptable, publishing images on an open social media group or in shop windows may be excessive and inappropriate. The ICO primarily responds to complaints it receives about the misuse of personal data. This means that the shoplifter would have to complain to the watchdog for any investigation to be held, which would be a highly unlikely scenario given the possibility of prosecution. Sitting in his spacious office, Athwal, 30, keeps one watchful eye on a TV showing 25 cameras covering every single angle of the 'Tesco Express-sized' store that has been in his family for 35 years. He often pauses mid-sentence, sometimes to listen to chatter on his headset or tell his colleagues the price of an obscure item, other times to zero in on whether customers are attempting to pocket small items. After an increase in shoplifting during the cost of living crisis, Athwal, who has worked in the shop since he was a teenager, once again began reporting the incidents to the police. In one case, he provided CCTV, pictures and vehicle registration numbers, but he was told that there was insufficient evidence to help the police find the suspect. 'There has always been shoplifting, but we've seen an increase during the cost of living crisis. We fell into the trap of thinking we're in a nice area and that there would be no crime. We were lulled into this false sense of security and thought that it didn't happen here,' he said. 'There's a culture now where nothing happens. We've always had kids stealing from us, but now they're more brazen. We had a group of teenagers come and grab drinks and run out, and you can think you can run after them, but what can you really do? 'Sometimes people are just stealing because of the thrill of it. It'll be a pack of biscuits and then you see them get into a really nice car, and you think, surely you have a quid for the biscuits. They are probably thinking 'Is he really going to call the police for a few quid?'' Athwal tries to make the best of shoplifters targeting his store by putting up clips of egregious thefts on social media to boost engagement and draw people to his shop. In one post, he takes aim at a young female shoplifter who was wearing a Vogue hoodie, describing her as a 'little fashionista' and 'thieving little rat' who could not resist stealing Red Bull and two freshly made bacon and sausage baps. 'I'm at the point that I have to laugh about it. What are you going to do, just sit down and cry about it?' he said. 'I just think, how can I flip this? I've lost £15, but how can I turn it into £15 or more of business through shares and promotion?' Alongside the posters in the window, he includes a link to the video on Facebook along with a message that if the shoplifters want it removed, they'll have to pay the shop for the stolen items. So far, shame has succeeded where the police have failed. 'A few weeks ago, a mother was caught shoplifting and then their son came in and paid for it because he was embarrassed about his mum. I think that's what it is, it's community shame. I think that's the biggest deterrent,' he said. Nestled in the heart of the Weald in Kent, Tenterden has a high street full of boutique shops selling luxury clothing and hand-carved furniture, as well as staple retailers such as Boots and Waitrose. Shop owners said that they had seen a rise in thefts over the past few years, with one boutique clothing store claiming that the shop was recently targeted by a shoplifter who walked in and scooped up untagged accessories into their arms and stormed out. Another, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear that their boutique would be targeted, said that they had caught chatty regulars stealing small items of jewellery — a revelation that left them heartbroken. Like Athwal, many do not bother reporting shoplifting to the police, claiming that it has effectively been decriminalised, leaving crime statistics unreflective of the situation on the ground. Despite spotting three shoplifters this week alone, Athwal's shopfront remains bare. 'I've not got anything in my window at the moment because I wanted the shopfront to be clean, but come September when school comes back, I may put one or two up so people are aware we're keeping an eye on shoplifters.' While shame has worked in some respects, Athwal is well aware that he may be playing with fire by promoting the images of shoplifters. 'I've had threats so far with people threatening to smash our windows if we don't take the posts down. There's going to be a day someone is going to come over and I'm probably going to get punched,' he said. Athwal said that most of the theft was by people who were passing through the area and that the shop believed in the power of community, and donated to people in need and other charitable causes in the area. Separately, the government has agreed that police and the Home Office should use the phrase 'shop theft' instead of shoplifting to avoid trivialising the offence, according to the Daily Telegraph. The rate of shoplifting has almost doubled over the past two decades. In the year to March, 530,643 shoplifting offences were reported to police, up 20 per cent on the previous year's total of 442,022. Chief Superintendent Rob Marsh, of Kent police, said that officers 'have not and will not ask any business owner to remove a poster that was being used for crime prevention and awareness'. He said they could not find any account of the conversation with Athwal regarding posters in his shop window and said that protecting staff, businesses and customers from this type of criminality was a key role of the neighbourhood and town centre policing teams, who were in regular contact with retailers. Marsh encouraged shopkeepers who suffer from retail crime to contact police as soon as possible so an 'effective response and investigation can be launched' and said that officers had improved their solved rate for shop theft from 27.6 per cent to 33.5 per cent in the year to June. 'When a report of shop theft, of any value, is received and a suspect can be identified, our local officers and investigators will work to track them down and bring them to justice. We also regularly seek community behaviour orders and civil restraining orders for habitual thieves through the courts,' he added.
