The RSPCA

[eastlondonseagull]

Well,well I have stirred up a hornets nest,draconian policies such as euthanasing FIV cats that are found stray (their inhouse blood tests are very unreliable both ways so in fact they PTS healthy cats and some with FIV have been homed as healthy,and their are many hundreds of cats that could have been homed rather than PTS.) they also PTS many dogs found on the streets that they say are not possible to re-home whereas other charities manage to this with less resources.
They also have a habit of re-homing dogs and cats that have microchips saying the owners could not be found and after WASTING HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY trying to defend their mistake have still had to hand back the animal.
they will also refuse to allow you to have an animal from them using the most spurious excuses (no cat flap,you live in a flat,near a road,have children,ect,ect.)
20 years ago this would not have mattered,so why does it now.

Wasting money seems to be one of their best policies,
new fleets of vans because officers could not carry their family in smaller ones so they ordered larger vans,making prosecutions where they have no chance of winning(one police officer was taken to court 8 times) and was still found not guilty for killing an injured cat (its whole back half was squashed into the road)with a spade because the RSPCA and a local vet refused to come out to the cat and he was charged with causing the cat undue stress between the first blow(which actually killed the cat)and the second blow which was done to make sure he had been dispatched this little episode cost the RSPCA £65.000,00 (sixty five thousand pounds)

As for moaning and not doing anything,I have been in cat welfare for many years and have watched from the sidelines, and listened to many people in rescue and most do not have a good word for the RSPCA (ring round a few of the local rescues and ask) I have belonged to another large charity cats protection,and now belong to a rescue that comes under the Cat Action Trust,and still have many friends who work with and in the RSPCA (and also know many that have left because of the bullying and draconian policies) and I have the deepest respect for them and in fact anyone who works in animal rescue,it is as they say a thankless task cleaning up after people who don't look after their animals or won't.

If any of you want to help then I would suggest you have your animals NEUTERED,MICROCHIPPED,AND CHECKED BY A VET AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.
this would ensure that your animal will not come under the glare of the said charity.

If you want to educate yourselves about the RSPCA google in anti-rspca and see what comes up ........................they can't all be wrong.

I wondered where my annual donation went :thud:

.

 

[beorhthelm]

...they will also refuse to allow you to have an animal from them using the most spurious excuses (no cat flap,you live in a flat,near a road...)

those sounds like very reasonable grounds to not house pets, at least as far as cats and dogs are concerned.
Im sure there are a few problems in an organisation of that size, but it sounds to me like one or two incidents being blown up into widepread issues.

 

[Monkster]

Ha ha Ha....all the old stories......

Firstly - "they will also refuse to allow you to have an animal from them using the most spurious excuses (no cat flap,you live in a flat,near a road,have children,ect,ect.)"

Thats called looking after the animals welfare..

"they also PTS many dogs found on the streets that they say are not possible to re-home whereas other charities manage to this with less resources"

If you are using Dog's trust as an example then look at slogan - "we won't put a healthy dog down" No, if it's unhealthy you put it down, if its a healthy dog you can't rehome, they actually give them to the RSPCA to put down...funny that

"I have belonged to another large charity cats protection,and now belong to a rescue that comes under the Cat Action Trust,and still have many friends who work with and in the RSPCA (and also know many that have left because of the bullying and draconian policies) and I have the deepest respect for them and in fact anyone who works in animal rescue,it is as they say a thankless task cleaning up after people who don't look after their animals or won't".

Again what RSPCA charity are you talikng about? If its a local rescue centre then they are all SEPERATELY registered charites using the RSPCA branding....Not funded from the HQ. There are only about 15 HQ funded centres in the counrty....all Inspectors are HQ funded

All seems to be a bit Envy of a bigger charity if you ask me

 

[readingstockport]

The Cat Protection League also euthanise any cat they get which tests positive for FIV. Are you going to now campaign against them as well?

Edit to add

You didn't stir up anything afaic. I simply wanted to know what you had against the rspca. When I was younger for example many of my associates really disliked the rspca because they didn't campaign against hunting and the didn't try to promote vegetarianism. I was just wondering if it were something similar.

 

[e77]

I think the RSPCA do a great job in the main but people forget (and they aren't going to remind people) that they have no legal powers without a Policeman present.

A friend of the family got a dog off them which turned out to be pregnant. They started to find homes for the puppies then an RSPCA inspector came round to say that when the puppies had finished with their mother they would take them back to find homes. Being upset about having to let people down they took legal advice and were told they didn't have to hand them over.

They told the RSPCA this, who quickly backed down.

They are a charity, not a government agency so don't need a watchdog, just people to eb aware of what they can and can't do.

 

[tedebear]

Well,well I have stirred up a hornets nest,draconian policies such as euthanasing FIV cats that are found stray (their inhouse blood tests are very unreliable both ways so in fact they PTS healthy cats and some with FIV have been homed as healthy,and their are many hundreds of cats that could have been homed rather than PTS.) they also PTS many dogs found on the streets that they say are not possible to re-home whereas other charities manage to this with less resources.
They also have a habit of re-homing dogs and cats that have microchips saying the owners could not be found and after WASTING HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY trying to defend their mistake have still had to hand back the animal.
they will also refuse to allow you to have an animal from them using the most spurious excuses (no cat flap,you live in a flat,near a road,have children,ect,ect.)
20 years ago this would not have mattered,so why does it now.

Wasting money seems to be one of their best policies,
new fleets of vans because officers could not carry their family in smaller ones so they ordered larger vans,making prosecutions where they have no chance of winning(one police officer was taken to court 8 times) and was still found not guilty for killing an injured cat (its whole back half was squashed into the road)with a spade because the RSPCA and a local vet refused to come out to the cat and he was charged with causing the cat undue stress between the first blow(which actually killed the cat)and the second blow which was done to make sure he had been dispatched this little episode cost the RSPCA £65.000,00 (sixty five thousand pounds)

As for moaning and not doing anything,I have been in cat welfare for many years and have watched from the sidelines, and listened to many people in rescue and most do not have a good word for the RSPCA (ring round a few of the local rescues and ask) I have belonged to another large charity cats protection,and now belong to a rescue that comes under the Cat Action Trust,and still have many friends who work with and in the RSPCA (and also know many that have left because of the bullying and draconian policies) and I have the deepest respect for them and in fact anyone who works in animal rescue,it is as they say a thankless task cleaning up after people who don't look after their animals or won't.

If any of you want to help then I would suggest you have your animals NEUTERED,MICROCHIPPED,AND CHECKED BY A VET AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.
this would ensure that your animal will not come under the glare of the said charity.

If you want to educate yourselves about the RSPCA google in anti-rspca and see what comes up ........................they can't all be wrong.

Thanks for your more detailed reply. As we do not have animals I'm not aware of any of this. But I think my original point still stands. The dilution of peoples donations by the creation of a further organisation to stand sentry over the RSPCA seems a little wasteful. Surely the best way is to get involved with them - or sue them if its that bad and get it sorted out without expending even more public energies than already?

 

[NMH]

If you want to educate yourselves about the RSPCA google in anti-rspca and see what comes up ........................they can't all be wrong.

That there are a lot of people criticising the RSPCA is no surprise, as animal groups (and particularly specialising ones which only deal with German Shephards/Greyhouds/Chihuahuas etc) are going to point to where the RSPCA fall short accoring to their own doctrines. Since so many other groups exist, why don't they try harder to fill the gaps they perceive, where the RSPCA fall short, and stop wasting their own benefactors' time and donations accusing them?

I am not interested in 'educating myself' to what every malcontent says, as I'm sure there's be ten times as many 'groups' SUPPORTING the RSPCA if people had silly groups organised to waste money so THEY can exist! (most charitable organisations use about 90% of donations, on their own admin, and staff - probably paying for their own holidays in Aruba every year!).

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with the RSPCA shows me they are doing something right, and the other charities should raise their profile by being there in PLACE of the RSPCA if they are so special. I didn't call any OTHER organisation when I needed to call someone - as they are too BUSY WHINGING AT ANOTHER ORGANISATION to make themselves known, and readily available when you need them.

I repeat; PERSONAL EXPERIENCE!

 

[glasfryn]

Some interesting points,firstly if a council issues a warrant to the RSPCA they can walk on to the property named and do not need a police escort unless they expect violence.
Cats protection leave decisions about euthanasia to their local committee and while I was welfare officer in Brighton no cat was PTS and while I was with CP their policy was NOT to PTS in fact I homed one cat that was supposed to be 21 years and its history went back 19 years with a vet that undoubtedly would have been PTS by the RSPCA as unable to home.
Some of the shelters and rescues called RSPCA are franchised out which means they have to pay to use the name RSPCA and as far as I am concerned that makes them the RSPCA .................I have no problem with this these people are grass roots rescue ...................but still have to tow the RSPCA line (in fact there is one that passes its FIV cats to another charity to home) PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME WHICH ONE.
"ten times as many 'groups' supporting the rspca"..........where?

and surely if you find an unhealthy animal thats why people donate for them to try to bring them back to health and re-home them ...........is'nt it?
if of coarse the animal is beyond helping .................but how many are that bad? or is it a case of not being bothered (their is a small charity in Brighton that has gone out to a cat that none of the others would entertain rspca,CP ect and that was homed some months later fit and well all it needed was a home, warmth, and food)it seems the larger the charity the less they can be bothered because people blindly give them donations not knowing where they go.

 

[glasfryn]

Oh and one more point can anyone tell me why a charity(RSPCA) would need over 30 people working in IT (in fact I am now told its 35)?

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Oh and one more point can anyone tell me why a charity(RSPCA) would need over 30 people working in IT (in fact I am now told its 35)?

Answering emails / accounts / website creation & maintainance / database creation?

 

[Monkster]

Seriously, have you ever been to the HQ? I think not.

Speaking from someone who KNOWS the Ins & outs of that place...

1st post , you use one example of evidence that a prosecution went wrong ( not like the CPS which uses tax payers money & f*cks up all the time, but lets not mention that)....At no point have you mentioned the 17,000 successful prosecutions against people who have mistreated the animals last year....

Secondly.....Where the CPL when it came to campaigning (And mean pledging money as well) for the animal welfare bill? NOWHERE....No that was the RSPCA's job wasn't it....

Thirdly, They do not PST any animal they think should be.....trained VETS ADVISE what they think, in their PROFESSIONAL opinion what the course of action should be....

Fourthly...if you find an unhealthy animal (and i'm assuming your talikng about a cat), then sure take them to a shelter & they will do everything in their power to rehome.....but if this animal has been there a length of time, is it fair to the animal to climb the walls in the kennels?

And about the number of people in IT, again, do you know how many systems, databases etc... they actually have? NO

So your argument is basically you don't like the HQ.....

 

[csider]

Only in Britain does a society to protect animals get the royal title yet the one to protect children doesn't.

Well said.

Also we give more money to animal charity than childrens charity. Its WRONG !!

 

[glasfryn]

Seriously, have you ever been to the HQ? I think not.

Speaking from someone who KNOWS the Ins & outs of that place...

1st post , you use one example of evidence that a prosecution went wrong ( not like the CPS which uses tax payers money & f*cks up all the time, but lets not mention that)....At no point have you mentioned the 17,000 successful prosecutions against people who have mistreated the animals last year....

Secondly.....Where the CPL when it came to campaigning (And mean pledging money as well) for the animal welfare bill? NOWHERE....No that was the RSPCA's job wasn't it....

Thirdly, They do not PST any animal they think should be.....trained VETS ADVISE what they think, in their PROFESSIONAL opinion what the course of action should be....

Fourthly...if you find an unhealthy animal (and i'm assuming your talikng about a cat), then sure take them to a shelter & they will do everything in their power to rehome.....but if this animal has been there a length of time, is it fair to the animal to climb the walls in the kennels?

And about the number of people in IT, again, do you know how many systems, databases etc... they actually have? NO

So your argument is basically you don't like the HQ.....

people do not donate to the CPS

CPL probably did not campaign or give money to the promotion of the new law because it was driven by and for the RSPCA and but for much campaigning by people like myself they would have had more rights than the police and or customs and excise (VAT) the new law does no more than any of the old ones (you will also notice they would not campaign to have microchipping made a legal requirement) which while spending huge amounts of money promoting the law would have only taken a minimal amount of time or money.
most rescues at this moment in time are packed to the rafters with cats and it is very difficult to home....................but most of the smaller rescues and shelters manage it (maybe because they are not hampered by company rules) and are driven by finance no homing,no money coming in whereas the larger rescues need not worry as they always have the name of the RSPCA to fall on (what was it I was saying about bothering)

the reason I left CP was that the area organiser was more interested in what car she was going to get that year and would it be better than the one she had at the RSPCA.
In fact it would make me quite happy if both HQ's were to fire rockets at one another and leave the real animal rescue to those who do it without needing a BMW to get to an animal in trouble.
when you have taken in as many foster cats, strays, and unwanted cats as I have and am still doing here in Wales(which I might say has no CP or RSPCA west of Swansea they have left it to people like myself to pick up the pieces) and find some you have gone to get have already been picked up by the RSPCA and PTS (they drive up from the Swansea area)then you might also be just as pissed off with their policies as I am.
I had once thought that I might join them and do my bit ..............but I would not last a week before planting one on some jobsworth.
and when you say a vets advice I assume you are talking about RSPCA vets?

 

[Monkster]

people do not donate to the CPS

CPL probably did not campaign or give money to the promotion of the new law because it was driven by and for the RSPCA and but for much campaigning by people like myself they would have had more rights than the police and or customs and excise (VAT) the new law does no more than any of the old ones (you will also notice they would not campaign to have microchipping made a legal requirement) which while spending huge amounts of money promoting the law would have only taken a minimal amount of time or money.
most rescues at this moment in time are packed to the rafters with cats and it is very difficult to home....................but most of the smaller rescues and shelters manage it (maybe because they are not hampered by company rules) and are driven by finance no homing,no money coming in whereas the larger rescues need not worry as they always have the name of the RSPCA to fall on (what was it I was saying about bothering)

the reason I left CP was that the area organiser was more interested in what car she was going to get that year and would it be better than the one she had at the RSPCA.
In fact it would make me quite happy if both HQ's were to fire rockets at one another and leave the real animal rescue to those who do it without needing a BMW to get to an animal in trouble.
when you have taken in as many foster cats, strays, and unwanted cats as I have and am still doing here in Wales(which I might say has no CP or RSPCA west of Swansea they have left it to people like myself to pick up the pieces) and find some you have gone to get have already been picked up by the RSPCA and PTS (they drive up from the Swansea area)then you might also be just as pissed off with their policies as I am.
I had once thought that I might join them and do my bit ..............but I would not last a week before planting one on some jobsworth.
and when you say a vets advice I assume you are talking about RSPCA vets?

I'm not doubting the work that you do, in fact there should be more people like you around who DO care this much about animals & you're to the extent that ANY large organisation does waste money.

You seem on one hand to say that you support grass roots welfare, then on the otherhand completely LAMBAST the work they do to the point of being libellous....

If you feel this way, then why have you not written in to the charities commission who can investiget for you rather than set up an online petiton that you, 10 farmers & the neighbours dog has signed?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Surely in all their animal shelters and so forth, there must be at least one german shepherd, or Rottweiler or something that they could use as a watchdog?

 

[readingstockport]

Well the CPL in Reading euthanise.

You have an issue with the RSPCA, fine. I have an issue with lots of things but I don't generally expect people to back me up unless I can provide a reasoned argument to back up my stance. IMHO you have failed to do so.

And as for why they need 30 people in IT? WTF do you expect, they are an organisation that employes how many people exactly? They manage a multi-million pound turnover and mount 17,000 prosecutions a year on animal abusers. No doubt if they ran it on a sheet of paper you would complain about that and accuse them of being un-professional.

Now come clean, I actually have no doubt about your ongoing concern for animals and their welfare and you involvement over the years. But what has caused you to go into one in the RSPCA?

 

[e77]

Oh and one more point can anyone tell me why a charity(RSPCA) would need over 30 people working in IT (in fact I am now told its 35)?

I work in IT and that is a very small department.

Your dislike of the RSPCA does seem to border on the obsessive!

 

[Yorkie]

Seriously, have you ever been to the HQ? I think not.

Speaking from someone who KNOWS the Ins & outs of that place...

1st post , you use one example of evidence that a prosecution went wrong ( not like the CPS which uses tax payers money & f*cks up all the time, but lets not mention that)..

Speaking as someone who works for the CPS, that is news to me.

 

[dougdeep]

Well said.

Also we give more money to animal charity than childrens charity. Its WRONG !!

So we should be forced to give money the RIGHT charities then?

 

[glasfryn]

Very true I am obsessive about people who continually ask for donations then waste the money when it could be used to save animals and educate rather than prosecute (other than those that continually neglect and abuse animals)and the reason I dislike the RSPCA .....well there are many this is not to say that I dislike the people who actually do the prevention and rescue(I have said previously that these people are to be admired) but it becomes a large problem made up of many small ones.

As for the petition,we will see once it has been running for a while.