To ask about your opinion on the RSPCA after Brian May resignation

[Meadowlands]

He has resigned because the RSPCA's response to poor animal welfare was completely inadequate.
When I reported an animal in distress, they refused to investigate, and it was left to my local animal shelter -which is struggling for money - to come to the rescue.
I find it all extremely concerning. Does anyone else have any experiences?

That is a very fair point.

Good God! That is shocking!
Well done to you, though.
So the SSPCA is every bit as useless and nasty as its southern counterpart? Who knew?

I worked in the charity sector about 25 years ago, and the RNLI had a reputation for banking millions, and not spending anything. Not sure whether that still applies, though.

Ahh yes, the RSPCA.....
Relative decided to start breeding rabbits out of his shed. Litter upon litter. Female was overbred, stressed and eating the kits. Those that weren't eaten had their ears chewed off.
RSPCA did fuck all.

Wouldn't give them a penny.

I’ve known several people who work for them, either as inspectors, vets or much higher up. They are all individually good people who care about animals.

However, I have never had one good experience with the RSPCA, whether it was trapped/injured wild animals, domestic animals, dumped horses…you name it, the RSPCA were shit about it and - at an organisational level - could not give one shiny shit about animal welfare overall. As a PP said, they care about prosecutions, their public image and income.

Like a lot of farming/horsey/rural folk, as an organisation I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire.

I've been giving them £20 a month for about 20 years. I got my dog from them. I'm loathe to stop, but I have wondered if my money would be better used by a local small dog charity, or possibly Dogs Trust.

That gravy train is quite expensive to keep going…

I think the anger should be directed towards the animal abusers. The level of cruelty and abuse is overwhelming . The RSPCA are just spread too thin to attend every call.

There is a lot wrong with the national RSPCA (Brian resigned over their farming accreditation schemes) but local self funded branches are fabulous.

Our local one works so hard and are completely overwhelmed with cats and small furries but always come out to help and collect the injured and strays.

@Imfreetofeelgood I would look up local rescue centres in your area. They are the ones who are working tirelessly with next to no money. My local shelter - which has to care for the animals which the RSPCA have declined - is struggling to survive.

@GraceAnatomy Bless you for looking after Orphan Annie. That cow of an SSPCA officer though.. how do people like that sleep at night?

Your story of wee Annie brought a tear to my hard as nails eyes @GraceAnatomy , you were both so lucky to have each other in your lives ❤

What authority does a charity have to intimidate and prosecute people? Are they actually allowed to demand access to someone's home?

I wish charities you pick to support would stop with the hardcopy mail outs. I don't actually need a valentines or a bday card from a dog I sponsor /a charity I support, I would prefer to opt out and that money be spent on caring for the animals.

I guess thats just pence in comparison to Director / CEO salaries though.

A colleague of mine is a kite surfing instructor on weekends and he said the RNLI are one charity he would not support as they are one of the richest. I understand their operations cost a lot of money, with the equipment needed etc but the figures they receive each year are massive!

My local self funded RSPCA branch:
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/rspca-fraud-david-mawson-b1183633.html

Disgraceful

If the Trustees of the RSPCA read this thread, they should hang their heads in shame and then take a very close, clinical look at how their organisation is run and then make major changes.

David Mawson was a trustee

I would like to see them at the very least begin to actually respond to calls.
And also to consider whether some of their mighty wealth could be sent to the small rescue centres that have been doing all the work they should have been doing on a shoestring.
A miniscule fraction of their income would save the shelter I volunteer at.

As far as I can make out he was a trustee within the local branches, where volunteers or managers have some sort of collective trustee status.

The whole system must have been wildly incompetent or corrupt.

I have worked in the charity sector and in my organisation you wouldn’t have got away with an excess KitKat on expenses. Expense claims weren’t paid until they were authorised by a third party, scrutinised against budget, and then paid and recorded, again against budget, by the finance manager.

What was going on that a London based person runnnng London based branches, was staying in S London Premier Inns and taking taxis at that level? He was dishonest and fraudulent but he was enabled.

Does anyone out there knows any journalists ?

We all know what happened with the Post Office bringing their own prosecutions!!!!

Brian May left because the RSPCA "assured" label on meat tells you absolutely nothing about welfare standards on those farms, which are shockingly low:

https://www.welfarewashing.org/

Here's what I donate to instead:

https://animalcharityevaluators.org/donate/donor-resources/recommended-charity-fund/

I'm sad to say my experience has been in line with BM's and other pps here.

I think the RSPCA probably spend too much on being political Eg victimis of fox hunting are a vanishingly small proportion of animals subjected to cruelty - they need to prioritise other things. They were so obsessed with hunting while awful things happen to millions of other animals daily.

The thing is that they are a charity, not a government agency, they are not the police.
while many have had poor experiences I have been fortunate to know hard working inspectors at the sharp end.

One officer will have often have a very large area to cover.

Was there something you could have done to help this poor horse? Intervened in some way?

I hear of so many people complaining about animals in trouble but it doesn’t occur to them to actually do something themselves.
Not saying this was relevant in your situation but sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone and get involved.

Really bad. Lied to me about the dog I rescued from them,
then kept ringing me to ask for a direct debit donation, I said I had rescued a dog from them, they said is that it then you aren’t helping any more dogs?? So rude.

I give my money to local animal charities who actually assist animals in trouble and don’t just spend all the money on salaries and advertising….

whenever there is wildlife in trouble and members of the public are trying to phone the rspca I always tell them not to bother and I ring local volunteer rescuers instead (who are amazing). The rspca have never come out when I have rang them, nor in any of the instances I have seen people try to contact them. They also don’t help certain animals which I don’t understand. They wouldn’t come out to attend a seagull
because they said they don’t do seagulls (bizarre) and it died.

I think the rspca rescue centres are franchises (our local one is) and not funded through the central organisation. Our local one regularly have to post on Facebook begging for cat food as they have run out and can’t afford to feed all the cats they have, the volunteers buy it themselves… while the central rspca organisation have millions…

if you sign up to donate it doesn’t seem to actually go to the rescue centres or the animals which I’m sure those donating would be really sad about.

Don’t Even get me started on their work with farm animals. Shocking and completely opposed to what a animal charity should stand for.