HORRIFIC cases of animal cruelty being shared by youngsters on Snapchat have been described by RSPCA officers as "horrific and heinous".

The RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) said they fear the social media platform makes the people creating these horrifying videos and images feel ‘invincible and untraceable’ because the post disappears after 10 seconds.

In 2017, officers have investigated three cases in Cumbria out of a total of 119 across the country.

Reports include:

A guinea pig thrown down the stairs;

A tortoise fed drugs;

A wild rabbit hit with a log and stabbed with a pen;

A sheep beaten to death with a golf club;

A goldfish’s eye cut out;

A puppy thrown into a river;

A squirrel set on fire;

A fox cub’s throat slit;

A cat choked and suffocated;

Two chickens beaten to death.

“What’s even more concerning than the 340% increase in reports of videos of animal cruelty on Snapchat in just two years, is the level of cruelty being seen,” an RSPCA intelligence officer - who cannot be named - said.

“While many of these videos shows acts of animal cruelty that are at the lower end of severity - such as teenagers chasing geese or throwing stones at birds - a worrying number of them show serious acts of brutality.

“When you consider that Snapchat is particularly popular with children and young teenagers, it’s particularly troubling that they could easily be witnessing animals being beaten, tortured and even killed in graphic detail.

“Not only are young people seeing these heinous acts but, most of the time, it is also young people who are witnessed in the videos carrying out these sickening incidents or are often the ones who share them.”

“Not only are these savage attacks on defenceless and vulnerable animals, but videos often include youngsters laughing as they inflict the injuries or text layered over the top suggest that they find it entertaining,” the intelligence officer added.

“Because of the way Snapchat works, kids are using the platform to share these videos as they feel invincible and, wrongly, think it’s untraceable. But, if reported to us by children who have seen the videos or by worried parents, we do have tools which enable us to trace those responsible in most cases.”

The RSPCA manages to trace the person responsible and resolve around 80% of all cases reported involving Snapchat videos. In most cases, RSPCA officers - often with police - will visit their schools and speak to their parents.