Millions of people share their homes with various pets and TV programmes dedicated to the behaviour of the greatest and smallest of creatures regularly top the ratings.

So the fact that daily acts of animal cruelty continue to take place in today's society is a distressing statistic.

Last week, a dead cat was discovered in the Union Canal in Maddiston.
It had been thrown into the murky waters after being tied up in a sack and weighed down by bricks.

Police described the act as ''cruel and inhumane'' – and it has not been the only human attack on animals in recent times.

In 2007, within the Falkirk postcode area, the Scottish SPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) received calls leading to more than 500 investigations.

Those who have to deal at first-hand with such incidents on a daily basis are inspectors from the charity.

Andrea Ferguson (28) has been an inspector for the Falkirk area – and large chunks of the central region – for 18 months.

That may be a relatively short period of time, but already she has seen some dreadful cases of abuse. "I am always surprised and shocked about what some people can do to their animals," Andrea said.

"Just after I started there was one dog that had been left to starve to death in someone's home, which was quite shocking.

"There was also a family of guinea-pigs that had just been left to die as well and only a few survived."

When a case is reported to the SSPCA, it goes directly to the control room and is then passed on to Andrea to follow up the investigation.

"We deal with all types of animals, but most of our cases are about domestic pets," she explained.

"Most are probably about complaints of dogs and cats being thin and under-fed.

"Usually we try to educate the owners on how they look after their pets. But if it's obvious that's a more serious case we could pass it on to the police or the Procurator Fiscal.''

Like any investigation, proving a crime has been committed is also a major hurdle to overcome.

"It can be very difficult to prove anything," added Andrea. "You need witnesses who have seen some kind of cruelty taking place.

"In some cases the owners just disappear without trace and we have to take the animals to one our outreach centres."

It's hard to comprehend any motivation for neglect and abuse of animals, but Andrea believes a constant problem is the lack of knowledge about owning a pet.

"People take animals on without learning or researching properly about what it will actually be like," she said.

"Animals may not be expensive to buy, but you then have to pay for things like food, regular jags and operations.

''There are also unexpected visits to the vet, which if you are not insured can catch people off guard as many people don't have that
amount of money."

She added: "However when you see the things that people are doing to
other people then it's probably not surprising. Until we stop doing that to each other then people will not stop being cruel to animals."

Prison sentences and fines are in place as a deterrent to cruelty, but the SSPCA puts more emphasis into educating youngsters.

"I think the main thing is to educate people from a young age," said Andrea.

"We have education officers going around the schools teaching kids about animals and owning a pet."

"Those brought up in the rural areas probably have a better idea about animals, so it's important to target the inner cities and towns, as unless people have owned a pet they may know little about them."

Should anyone know of any animal neglect, cruelty or abandonment people should call the Scottish SPCA animal helpline on 03000 999 999. Lines, at this time of year, are open from 8.30 a.m. until 10 p.m. seven days a week.