BATTERED to death, kept in squalor and left to starve. These are just some of the terrible acts committed on Hampshire's pets in 2005.

However, RSPCA figures show more offenders are being punished for cruelty towards their animals.

In 2005, there was a 300 per cent increase in animal cruelty convictions in Hampshire with 21 defendants found guilty in 2005, compared to seven in 2004.

Despite the rise in convictions, RSPCA director general Jackie Ballard said that 2005 would go down as one of the most violent towards animals.

She said: "Sadly, despite our best efforts, there are those who continue to ignore our messages and treat animals with brute force instead of compassion."

In what one RSPCA officer described as the most shocking case of animal cruelty she had ever seen, a young couple from Holbury were banned from keeping animals for five years after both their dog and guinea pig starved to death as a result of being left chained up in the kitchen after the couple moved out of the house.

In April, Fareham magistrates convicted a 61-year-old Gosport man of causing unnecessary suffering to two cats.

The under-weight animals were found living among hundreds of old newspapers, bottles, tins and boxes in his flat. He was banned from keeping animals for life. In August, a mother and daughter from Colden Common, near Winchester, were found guilty of battering a kitten to death with a metre-long wooden cylinder.

RSPCA press officer Jo Barr said it was important to remember that the P in RSPCA stood for prevention.

She said: "The RSPCA is not about prosecution. We try to work with people for the welfare of these animals and only prosecute when we can prove a case of animal cruelty."