RSPCA is celebrating the first year of it ambitious new strategy to tackle cruelty and create a nation that is kinder to animals.

Chris Sherwood, the charity’s chief executive, said RSPCA’s new strategy has been a success after a number of major victories including the introduction of tougher sentencing for animal abusers, increasing supporter numbers and the introduction of flexible working and family-friendly initiatives.

Mr Sherwood said: “When we launched our bold new strategy we not only had big ambitions for how we wanted to reduce cruelty and neglect across England and Wales, and create a nation that is kinder to animals; we also wanted to make the RSPCA a better place for our dedicated staff to work.

“We’re thrilled with the strides we’ve made in the first year of this 10-year strategy, especially during the particularly challenging context of the Covid pandemic.

“We have got off to an incredible start, thanks to the passion, enthusiasm and dedication of our people, partner charities and our amazing supporters but there’s still more to do to continue to move towards our goal of creating a world where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion.”