Pioneering work to highlight animal cruelty has brought the Northern Echo a national award.

The paper was singled out among the regional press by the RSPCA for animal welfare campaigning.

And it has been presented with the RSPCA’s Regional Media Award “for an outstanding and sustained contribution to the field of animal welfare”.

The paper was particularly praised for its Animal Watch campaign, co-ordinated by crime correspondent Ian Lamming, which encourages readers to report cases of animal cruelty and gives practical advice on how to look after pets.

In one case last year, the paper’s appeal for information about a dog being stuffed in a bag and dumped on a tip to die helped the RSPCA find the man responsible. He has since been prosecuted and jailed.

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron was invited to the Telford International Centre in the Midlands to receive the award from RSPCA chairman Mike Tomlinson at the society’s annual general meeting.

The citation read: “The RSPCA is fortunate in that a great many regional journalists regularly support animal welfare campaigns and help bring those guilty of animal cruelty to book.

“However, there are not so many who show such an outstanding and sustained commitment to animal welfare as The Northern Echo.”

This latest honour adds to a string of awards won by the paper this year, including the North-East Newspaper of the Year and Newsquest Daily Newspaper of the Year titles.

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