WHEN Tammy's owners finally took the kitten to the vet, he was horrified to discover her injured jaw had been patched with freezer ties.

Wire from the jaw had cut off the blood supply to the 12-week-old kitten's jaw, causing considerable suffering and leaving the gaping wound badly infected.

Nine months on, there is little sign of the agony endured by Tammy, now renamed Jangles, as she plays happily at her new foster home in Darlington.

Tammy's plight has been one of a series of cases highlighted by The Northern Echo's Animal Watch campaign, launched a year ago to tackle the North-East's reputation as the cruelty capital of Britain.

The campaign has been praised by the RSPCA for its role in promoting animal welfare, helping the Echo win the charity's award for regional newspaper of the year last year.

But RSPCA inspector Gavin Butterfield yesterday warned there is still a long way to go in making the region a safer place for animals.

He said: "There is absolutely no doubt at all that every piece of information that promotes animal welfare is a godsend to the plight of animals in the region.

"But it isn't just the occasional piece of cruelty we hear about, there is a constant problem of animal abuse and cruelty.

"It is a question of slowly educating people and bringing it to people's awareness that there is a problem, and that is what the Echo has been doing."

Tammy's owners were each banned from keeping animals for five years but new owner Janice Brant said the cat, now called Jangles, had adapted well to her new home.

She said: "We thought she might be a bit timid but she settled in very well and she takes to people straight away."

Vanessa Robinson, who fosters cats for the RSPCA before they can be rehomed, said the Echo's work in publicising abandoned animals had made a substantial difference in encouraging people to come forward and adopt them.

She said: "Since we have been putting the cats in the paper the response has been brilliant. More than half the cats featured have been rehomed."

Read more about the Animal Watch campaign here.

Updated:13.30 Wednesday, May 9