To give to PDSA instead of RSPCA

[Meadowland]

With the austerity measures likely to now continue, many more people may be unable to afford vet's bills. The PDSA who do a fabulous job, will probably be stretched to cope.
Meanwhile, the RSPCA, have been utterly dismal in responding to any requests to help animals in need, both from myself and from others I know. They also, as far as I am aware, have a lot of legacies left to them, but have consistently refused to help struggling smaller animal charities.
If you are thinking of making a donation, the PDSA is definitely my choice.

I think it's immoral to give to pet animal charities when there are so many humans suffering

ODFOD.

I was a bit abrupt, sorry. Been to drop stuff off at the food bank and it's heartbreaking.

I do give to wild life charities but never to pet charities because there are already too many unwanted pets. It costs so much to keep them alive and my view is they should be put down if homes can't be found. It's a waste of money feeding animals in cages.

Also responsible people get pet insurance, maybe it should be obligatory.

We all have our favourite charities, I know. But I can't give money to dogs and cats when children are barely getting enough to eat.

There doesn't seem to be much to choose between them, tbh.

RSPC
PDSA

Well that's annoying; those urls worked a moment ago.

https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?subid=0&regid=208217

I think it's immoral to give to pet animal charities when there are so many humans suffering

Why have you come into a thread which specifically asks about two animal charities to pontificate about why people should only give money to humans? Your hectoring attitude is unwarranted and you contribute nothing to the OP’s question

Hmm. You need to work on your attitude. You don’t come across as very charitable at all

I think it's your attitude that could do with some adjustment. Normal people are much more gracious when an apology has been issued. Try it.

I favour Blue Cross and local independent rescues (the former’s Pet Bereavement Line is fantastic). The Cinnamon Trust are also great.
Individual RSPCA workers are no doubt mostly dedicated and have animal welfare at the front of their minds but as an organisation I have found them personally to be unhelpful so won’t donate to the charity as a whole (refused to come out to injured animals, wild and domestic, unhelpful and uninterested when approached about rehoming etc), so I don’t donate to them.

Incidentally, if you have unused and in date pet medication do let your vet have it back as they can give it to someone else who can’t afford the prescription. Your vet is also a good place to ask about local pet welfare charities if you don’t know what might be in your area to donate to.

Do you realise the impact of potentially losing a beloved family pet due to a change of circumstance, IHateBlueLights ? Those hungry children are unlikely to feel better about stuff if their dog, cat or hamster are removed and killed because of a lack of charity-funded places for rehoming or temp accommodation.
Giving to charity isn’t Either/Or you know. I can give to food banks and animal charities and homeless charities, all at the same time. Amazing, huh?

I caught some of a programme featuring the PDSA the other day. 1 thing really stood out a mile. NONE of the pet owners said thank you, not a single one.

Many years ago I used to volunteer as a vet's assistant at the PDSA. Some of the pet owners were truly appalling and should have been banned from keeping animals. The PDSA did nothing about it. I resigned and have never donated to them since then.

I have had positive experiences with the RSPCA but they seem to be very over-stretched. Given their admin costs though, I prefer to donate to small animal charities where I know every £ goes directly to the animals. I volunteer for two wildllife charities and am closely involved with two others so I know the individuals involved and how hard they work to save animals. I tend to donate by buying things from their Amazon wishlists as then it all helps the animals directly.

How is calling someone a “pompous arse” an apology?
And you wonder why some people like to give to animal charities?
Personally we support local charities that help both humans and people. But it’s up to each individual which they wish to support.

I apologised, if you read back.

Then she was rude and pompous. And I said so. Not sure why it bothers you.

Wow. Rude again. Never mind. I’ll go and see my pets. They’re never rude, unkind or nasty.

Of course everyone should support the charities which they feel most passionate about, whether human or animal.
The point of the post was to consider, when giving, a) how rich the charity is (and the RSPCA is up there with the richest),
and b ) how effective they are with that money.
The RSPCA mission statement is " to prevent cruelty, promote kindness to, and alleviate suffering of so animals"
In mine, and many others' experience, this has not been the case, despite their wealthy status.
And the smaller animal charities are left to pick up the pieces with very limited funds.

So no one directly involved with the charity?

No. I felt the credible people I discussed it with coupled with my own experiences were enough to make up my mind. Besides, very few people who work for the RSPCA are going to publically say anything negative are they.

Personally we support local charities that help both humans and people. But it’s up to each individual which they wish to support.

Great post Wolfie!

I donate to both human and animal charities - I'm a member of my local wildlife trust on the animal side, and I regularly donate to a couple of human charities too.

I prefer to donate to smaller charities as they don't waste as much money on marketing and other overheads. There are too many charities doing the same things in my view.

We got our kitten from the RSPCA. Everyone we encountered was compassionate, and they were thorough in the checks they carried out before letting us have the cat. At this local level, they were excellent.