A horrific catalogue of animal cruelty by owners in Sussex was revealed by the RSPCA at its annual conference today.

The national charity, which has its headquarters in Horsham, revealed huge numbers of people neglect or are cruel to their animals.

The conference heard the RSPCA picked up more than 24,000 animals from homes and properties across the South-East last year and responded to 156,201 phone calls from people concerned about cruelty.

The charity secured 297 convictions in the region.

The organisation reported during the conference at the Leybourne animal centre in West Malling, Kent, that some of the worst cases of animal cruelty and neglect in the South-East were carried out in Sussex.

Stuart Farmer, the RSPCA's South-East regional superintendent, told the conference this morning: "We are supposed to be a nation of animal lovers and yet our inspectors come across some of the most distressing cases of neglect and suffering.

"During 2001, the South-East inspectorate received more than 12,600 complaints of cruelty. This should not be happening in the 21st century and we hope the Government will update the animal welfare law to enable us to act earlier"

The conference heard some of the most distressing cases of cruelty in Sussex last year included the horrific killing of a cat, Sasha, at her owner's home in Crawley.

Nadine Trewin cooked the family's six-year-old pet in the microwave at her home in Adelaide Close, after drinking seven pints of lager and almost two bottles of wine before the incident in March 2001.

She then tipped the cat out of the oven and out of a window before burying it in a black bin liner in the garden.

She told RSPCA inspector Mike Garrity she had been under stress from the breakdown of a relationship.

Trewin was given a five-year ban on keeping animals and fined £200.

Inspector Garrity said: "We were disappointed that the magistrate did not impose a longer ban. We believe a lifetime ban would have been more appropriate."

The conference heard most cases in the South-East were cases of cruelty through neglect.