To be so angry at hearing yet more stories of RSPCA refusing to help animals.

[Meadowland]

I've heard of 3 examples already this week of RSPCA not helping animals in need. They are one of the richest charities in this country, receiving millions of pounds in legacies and donations each year.
And yet it is always left to the smaller animal charities who have very little funding to help these animals.

My niece found a stray kitten, the RSPCA told her to just leave it where it was and I've heard lots more awful stories. I wouldn't give them a penny!

I once asked the RSPCA if they could spare some of their hundreds of millions of pounds to prevent a small local animal rescue centre from closing down through lack of money.

The law is actually quite restrictive on what charities can do with their funds, and donating it to another charity is not something they would just be allowed to do.

If the Animal Welfare Act is not stringent enough to protect animals then you need to lobby your MPs who have the power to do something about the law. I also agree with a pp that enforcing it should not be left to charities.

Not a fan. They've spent millions to save badgers and foxes to get publicity, but the local investment in looking after animals in need is piss poor. Stop paying for lawyers, stop doing private prosecutions for hunting, start paying for people on the ground to actually bloody do something.

And I still won't like them - the condition of my dog when it came out of 6 months in RSPCA kennels was appalling.

They help the high publicity cases, and wont even come out for animals when the police call them because its too dark, raining, too late etc. Fat cat top bosses making money because the gullible keep donating.

I don't think the RSPCA shelters are fully funded/ run as one organization hence can be quite variable.

I had a friend who was an inspector, they try but cover large areas dealing with wildlife, farm & pets so realistically are very limited to number can attend each day, also when they do raid some places such large numbers of staff are then drafted in to process the animals. They said changes over the years to reduce operating costs meant that those now taking calls were not as knowledgeable to prioritise or know the local area so could pick out the time waster callers before job sent out.
Its a really hard job that doesn't even pay a lot for the risks & some of the stories made me sick just hearing them. If it gets to court maximum for animal cruelty is 6months so unlikely to even go to prison & they can get round the ownership bans if move to different area where nobody knows to report.

Personally I think it should be part of the police force not reliant on a charity & laws need altering to improve welfare.

@Scattyhattie

I don't think the RSPCA shelters are fully funded/ run as one organization hence can be quite variable.

I had a friend who was an inspector, they try but cover large areas dealing with wildlife, farm & pets so realistically are very limited to number can attend each day, also when they do raid some places such large numbers of staff are then drafted in to process the animals. They said changes over the years to reduce operating costs meant that those now taking calls were not as knowledgeable to prioritise or know the local area so could pick out the time waster callers before job sent out.
Its a really hard job that doesn't even pay a lot for the risks & some of the stories made me sick just hearing them. If it gets to court maximum for animal cruelty is 6months so unlikely to even go to prison & they can get round the ownership bans if move to different area where nobody knows to report.

Personally I think it should be part of the police force not reliant on a charity & laws need altering to improve welfare.

I agree with you. It needs to be run properly, with the full force of the law. At present, it really only concentrates on those cases that can induce a prosecution.

[quote Porcupineintherough]@ginoclocksomewhere I'm inclined to agree. You only get a field full when the land is being hideously overgrazed - the ragwort takes over because it's the only thing not eaten. Piss poor land management.[/quote]
It was about 5 or 6 horses in a field about 1 1/2 tennis court size, short grass in the middle from grazing and very tall ragwort all round edges for about a metre or so.

I've unfortunately had dealings with the RSPCA through my workplace. They are very unhelpful, the team local to us seem very uncaring and don't actually seem to care about animal welfare. They've dumped multiple animals on us that should never have come to us, and left it to us to sort a space with a rescue shelter as if we don't have enough to do as it is.

I would never support them

YANBU. A friend who used to work for the RSPCA in one of their rehoming kennels told me that, had DDog ended up in their care (which he narrowly avoided before I came into his life; I privately rehomed him), he would have been put down for behaviour reasons.

I - as a totally inexperienced but enthusiastic dog lover who went on a steep learning curve - managed to turn him into a perfectly nice dog who plays nicely with other dogs in the park and interacts appropriately with children. He's still got his foibles, but he didn't need to be put down at one year old.

Mind you, Dogs Trust aren't much better. If someone tries to surrender a dog to them, it'll be assessed for health and behaviour so rigorously that the dog practically needs to be Lassie to be accepted for rehoming. Mine wouldn't get in, even now. They may not put healthy dogs down themselves, but that's only possible because they reject the less desirable dogs, meaning that inevitably some just get put down elsewhere.

I phoned the RSPCA from the side of a main road in rush hour traffic a couple of years ago. I was comforting a fawn which had been hit by a car. They told me to cover its eyes, try to get it in my car boot and take it to a vet, so they could put it down, because they didn't have time to come and deal with it It was an animal in incredible pain and fear. I had young children with me. They just weren't interested.

These stories are truly appalling, and so upsetting.
There must be some ruling that says a charity which is given so much in donations should be fit for purpose ?

I just don't get all this RSPCA bashing. They do what they can with the limited resources they have and the legal system that they operate within. They are not perfect; I imagine that they have to make tough decisions and can only act on the most desperate of cases. I worry that all this negativity around them will lead to fewer donations and even less support for desperate animals.

Yanbu. My best friend worked for them for a year after qualifying as a vet. She said it basically consisted of putting down hundreds of healthy animals a week. She did 40 cats in 1 day. It was soul destroying. I lived with her at the time and by the end she was a shell of her self. I've never supported them since.

I worry that all this negativity around them will lead to fewer donations and even less support for desperate animals.

They are one of richest charities in the country.

@Almostslimjim. The point is they are NOT supporting desperate animals. Have you read the distressing stories on this thread ?
I'm saying much better to give to the smaller animal charities who do help animals.

Sorry that was for @AnnaFiveTowns

I live a few hundred metres from one of their animal hospitals.

They have provided cheap or free veterinary care for decades on this site, to the people of London or to anyone who comes and who can demonstrate that they have a low income (eg benefits) and cannot afford a vet. They have treated 100s of 1000s of animals here and enabled a decent quality of life to sick animals that otherwise would not have been treated at all.

@SheldonesqueIsUnwell

What lochjess said.

The law needs to change to protect animals more. Although they struggle enough to protect people sometimes.

But make no mistake, the lockdown animal dumps are a disgrace. And are down to people. They should be fined the cost of rehoming or lifetime kennel/cattery/hutch or whatever fees.

I’m so tired of reading things like this.

Just remember any change in the law to improve conditions for animals inevitably leads to a glut of abandoned animals that you will have had to prepare for.

But make no mistake, the lockdown animal dumps are a disgrace. And are down to people. They should be fined the cost of rehoming or lifetime kennel/cattery/hutch or whatever fees.

So no ones taking thier lockdown puppy to a charity ever again then if they're responsible for the lifetime care costs, just dumping them in a bit of waste ground or killing them.

Porcupineintherough
That doesn't sound like enough land for that many horses

Someone I knew got a call from their local vets asking them to pop in. When they got there, they were presented with 2 guinea pigs that the RSPCA had asked to be PTS. The only thing wrong with the GPs were mites which is a £3 treatment and that's it they were perfectly healthy otherwise but the RSPCA wanted them destroyed costing £20 to save £6.

The clue is in the name - their remit is to prevent cruelty to animals.

They investigate animals being kept in cruel conditions, remove them and prosecute the owners. And that's about it.

They don't do the rehabilitation and rehoming that people think they do.
It's a shame that they put animals to sleep that could perhaps be rehomed with a lot of help and TLC. But it's not what they do.

No one has been cruel to a run-over deer.

YANBU. I've never had a good experience with them in a professional or personal capacity. And they kill SO many animals who could be saved.

@rebeccachoc

Someone I knew got a call from their local vets asking them to pop in. When they got there, they were presented with 2 guinea pigs that the RSPCA had asked to be PTS. The only thing wrong with the GPs were mites which is a £3 treatment and that's it they were perfectly healthy otherwise but the RSPCA wanted them destroyed costing £20 to save £6.

Disgusting, I'm phoning the vet today to discuss guinea pig fostering.

I've mentioned this before but I phoned them when I heard a neighbour beating their dog. I was told that because I had heard it and not seen it it was hearsay (So wrong!). And then she said that they only act on "see-say" evidence. Yes, she used the (completely made up) word "see-say". It's a conversation that regularly plays on my mind when I can't sleep, over five years later.

I would never support them either