Flaming RSPCA!

MrsMozart

MrsMozart

Just passing through...
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Second attempt at posting this as the ether ate the first.

Driving into client's site this morning, I saw a deer (small doe) making a run for it up and down the grass verge, having the odd attempt at crossing the dual carriageway.

Deer rang back into the trees (houses and business parks behind those trees I believe), so I rang the RSPCA... Very short story: 118 put me through to the number in Bletchley - the conversation went along the lines of me explaining where deer was and where I was, i.e. me no handsfree, perched on the side of the dual carriageway...: was the deer hurt (no, but it soon will be if it keeps trying to cross the road); me to catch it (yeah right, on my own on the outskirts of Milton Keynes and it's thousands of acres of grass, wooded areas, business parks, housing estates); call the local wildlife centre (and who would that be then?).

When I politely asked if they could take a message and pass it on to the relevant part of the RSPCA, explaining again that I wasn't in a position to take numbers or call anyone else, not until I'd got to the office, by which time it might be too late for the deer, the woman was so flaming rude and sharp to the point of being unpleasant "This is the charity shop! We cannot pass on messages," spoken in a totally shocked and outraged way.

What?! You're the charity shop FOR THE CHARITY THAT IS MEANT TO HELP ANIMALS!!! I told her I'd heard bad things about the RSPCA, but had put them aside in order to get help for the deer, but now I fully understood and concurred with the general opinion and that I wouldn't bother them again.

I rang the police and they were lovely and made sure they understood where the deer was hiding out, as much as I could tell them as I don't know the area that well. I apologised and said I'd tried the RSPCA first, but that had failed to get anyone out to help, so as the deer was trying to cross a dual carriageway I thought it counted as an emergency. They were fine about it and would arragne to get people out to try and find it and take it back to where it had come from.

Takes a lot to give me the edge of anger I had this morning. Never heard anything so ridiculous in all my life. I will not be turning to the RSPCA again, nor will I be funding them.
 
OMG....can't believe they let you and the deer down like that!?
How did it end or were you not there to find out?
 
Im not surprised MM.

I tried reporting calves who were at deaths door (quite literally, one already down and the other staggering, both emaciated in a pen) to RSPCA......apparently theres nobody that 'does' cows.

They died.
 
CJ - I wasn't there to find out as had to get to work, and I wouldn't have been much use, given my outfit, for hunting out a deer. Stilletoes and mud, not a good combination :)

CB - yup, had all the deer jokes in the office (need new ones lol).

S- that's just made me even angrier. Beyond comprehension.
 
Hi

I had a similar response from the RSPCA and my local council 2 weeks ago.

A wild goat decided to jump into my mares field, she took to booting it constantly when it was in reach. I rang RSPCA, told them it was wild, and being badly beaten by my mare, they took 6 hours to call back and leave a message that they could not be of help!?!

I tried to catch the goat for 2 more days but failed, by this time it was going lame, so I rang again, I was told they would get a supervisor to call me back, and guess what 2 weeks later I am still waiting for the call back.

My local council informed me that the warden no longer catches animals?!?

In the end we caught the goat and re-homed it with other goats, but what a bl**dy disgrace that there is no help available for situations like this.

I for one can not wait to be approached by the RSPCA to donate to them, they will be getting a real ear full off me.

Jo
 
The RSPCA are entirely useless in many cases. If anyone has a problem with farm animals, such as the calves above, phone your local trading standards office and/or environmental health. Bizzarely they will both respond more promptly and appropriately! But no-one will do anything about the poor deer. The police have to be polite as everything reported to them has to be treated as a police matter. Whether or not they actually did anything is another story.
 
The police were useless in a similar situation with some gypsy cobs who got out of their and chased me and the old mare at about 8pm in the dark in winter. I thought they would respond faster than charities, as the lane leads to a busy main road on both ends.

I stood with a holly branch shaking it at them to keep them in the field for 20 mins, after which no sign of help appeared so i rang someone to drive up from their house and help. An hour later after we had managed to blockade them in with branches, i saw the police drive up the wrong lane, turn around and go they spent less than 1 minute 'looking'.

Ironically, the owners have just fixed the fence, after about 8 months. Because one of their tethered ponies died and THEN the rspca got involved, despite them having been reported several times over the years.
 
It was a few years back but when my dad hit but didn't kill a deer the police were brilliant, and organised a local vet to come out and euthinase.

I suspect farm animals aren't cute enough for the sensational press from RSPCA.

The charity shop's response was ridiculous, they could have so easily taken your number and passed it on to someone else to ring back. I would think its worth an email to RSPCA head office to let them know what happened, and suggest that whilst they reply on volunteers that this particular volunteer has made them out the be a bag of faeces and could she/he be trained in the correct and coureteous manner to respond in future. You could point out that manners cost nothing!!!
 
I'm the same as you really. Have always heard bad things on the grapevine, but have never experienced it myself so never felt in a place to comment or have an opinion. But it just beggars belief doesn't it? And when they drop those letters through my front door asking me to make a donation....

... how about saving some bloody money and paper on those stupid letters! I'll donate if I WANT to.

Grrrr.

Glad you managed to get some sense from the police.
 
Bl**dy RSPCA strikes again!

A few years ago I found a cat in the middle of the road that had been run over. I picked it up and took it to the RSPCA who were about half a mile away and they told me they couldn't take it and that it would probably die anyway! :eek: So I ended up taking it to my own vets and sadly it had broken its back and they put it to sleep. Bl**dy unbelievable!

On the other hand, there was a seagull on our roof at work in the middle of town which had a bad leg. The RSPCA came straight away to that one, even though I did offer to shoot it for them!
 
spaniel said:
Im not surprised MM.

I tried reporting calves who were at deaths door (quite literally, one already down and the other staggering, both emaciated in a pen) to RSPCA......apparently theres nobody that 'does' cows.

They died.
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Yep, I was told that too after reporting some sick cows. They were sick because they had calved, and had ruptured. No-one helped them, so when I called I reported 2 sick cows and 2 calfs that needed help - and fast! I wasn't going to interfer too much as the situation with the cows owner and myself can be a bit 'hit and miss' putting it politely. I got ' don't have and 'cow' people in your area'. Turns out 2 cows died, 1 calf and the other was taken away. The worst thing about it was that no-one came to collect the bodies for 8 days!!!
RSPCA did get back to me 5 days after I first phoned - and said the couldn't do anything because the animals were dead. Great!
Poor things - they really did suffer.
 
We took one of cats to the RSPCA centre recently, the fist time we took him the vet was rude and had my mum so upset as they suggested he wasn't being cared for (he was quite thin but he was old and had recently lost his aunt who was his companion so he was just getting over his depression) we took him again and long story short he passed away after they kept him in over night then only got round to scanning him at 5pm having been there from 2 the previous day, so he was all alone. We went to go and see him to say ur last goodbyes, we were told to sit and wait, and hour passed with people that had come in after s, I asked the nurse when we would be able to se him she said it depends where you are on the list priorities are first, our cat was dead so let's face it anything livingl would come come above. He was in a seperate room where they left us alone with him anyway and one of the nurses was nice but the other nurse acted as though we were in her way, the 'nice' nrse then said she would go and find it how kch we had to pay but never came back as she had gone home and we were in a room with our passed away cat in an empty clinic and no one around, we waited for about 20 minutes before anyone discovered us. You may say more fool us for going there as hose are just a drop of the bad expriences we've had there, but circumstances were such that we had to. My baby Oliver and our other cat Theo are both to have the best vet scoped out and taken privetly for hopefully a better service.

RIP Solomon
 
what exactly do the RSPCA do!!!!!!!!!

I had a similar experience last year, with a deer that was drowning, they would not come out, and left me to do the rescue, grrrrrrrrrr, after an hour of trying I got it out, and shock horror, the RSPCA did turn up, but then said they would not have been able to do anything!!!!!!

THey also do not come to, scared (aggressive) German shepards in the back garden, parrotts in trees. I have asked if I told them that Rolf Harris was with me, would it make a difference?, a bit rude maybe, but he does seem to get them out to almost anything ;).
 
We stopped an "officer" in his van and told him about an ex sprinter who had severe rain scald and was hopping lame. He said they couldn't deal with it because they were busy! We then phoned ILPH, as it was then, and their man was there the next morning. He had to come from Hampshire to Wiltshire.
 
such a shame about these stories, I have wondered several times what public agencies are responsible for animal welfare, because I would like to have the phone number in the car in case we come across anything. -Would be useful to have a local list of who to call about deer, cows, etc if it depends on what type of animal it is.

Horsehead, I thought the RSPCA was for abandoned animals/welfare cases, they are probably over burdened with those type of cases so perhaps it isn't that strange if they weren't overly impressed if you didn't take your cat to a regular vet? Also, I understand that the vet made your mum upset by suggesting the cat was not cared for, but if the animal looked like it was not cared for surely he ought to say something, - that is part of his job as an RSPCA vet, right? Besides, if they had any animals to deal with it seems only fair that you had to wait - I am sorry you were upset and had to wait, but their number one priority should be the animals, not grieving owners.
 
tbf though.... I am not sure anyone would have been able to help particularly in this situation.....

wild, unhurt deer are not easily caught and not always predictable.... anyone attempting to move it in any which way possible are just as likely to cause it to run across the dual carriageway. Deer cross roads all the time and generally get away with it.

Just not really sure what could have been done in this instance?
 
E - even if they couldn't do anything, they could have at least made the attempt to advise me of such rather than being so arrogant and rude. Most wild animals are hard to catch, does that mean that we shouldn't bother trying?
 
oh yes, I agree they should have said they would advise someone in the locality so they could go and have a look if passing...... even if they didnt just so as not to be rude. :) no need for that

and yup generally speaking having done quite a lot of wildlife rescue/rehab here and abroad I am of the opinion that there are some wild animals that shouldn't be caught and should, in the event of accident, be PTS at the scene if at all possible. It took me quite a long time to come to this conclusion. There are some species that do very well but there are many that don't hence I err on the side of leave well alone if possible... just my take on it, I dont expect everyone to agree :)
 
yeap totally agree RSPCA are far from perfect. I've had rubbish experiences too and its **** that they didn't help better in all cases above.

But at the risk of upsetting a lot of people, they do help a lot of animals in the UK too. As many of you have said it is a charity - not a government department with Service Level Agreements and they have limited resources.... Personally I feel there is a growing feeling that the RSPCA HAVE to help in all cases - that it is their duty to help with every single reported case of domestic and farm animal cruelty case in the UK. That's an enormous workload and I can't see how they can possibly ever deliver on it no matter how much they try.

Obviously, this is Horse and Hound's forum so with the RSPCA's stance on the hunting issue I can't ever imagine this charity is going to be our charity of the year :) But lets not forget that there are lots of countries where there isn't an RSPCA - and animals suffer with no hope. So for the percentage of positive work the RSPCA do in the UK we shouldn't rubbish it completely and, if they could talk, a lot of animals would talk positively about the charity - in fact they owe their lives to it.

Seems a bit of a waffle but I hope you don't just fire back at me because I'm presenting a different opinion. No they don't always get it right but they don't always get it completely wrong either. I'd rather we had an RSPCA that cocks up on a percentage of cases than not have the charity at all.
 
I agree that there are a number of wild animals that if injured should be pts, but if one can stop them ending up that way... :). Had it been a country lane I wouldn't have said anything, but a dual carriageway, surrounded by industry and residential properties and more dual carriageways, it's an accident waiting to happen (it would have done already if the driver in front of me hadn't been so quick in their response to seeing a deer leaping into the road in front of him/her!).

D95 - yes, I can understand all that, but it's the response one gets, especially the response I got this morning! How on earth can one distance oneself from the charity one is working to raise funds for...?
 
I have always found the RSPCA helpful, I found a deer that had been involved in a car strike, I phoned them, they phoned back in about 5 mins. |The oficer with a firearm was inm another part of the area so she asked if I knew anbyone with a gun, at this point I didnt so she met me there, we managed to get the deer into a crate where she was able to euthanase.

TBH if it is a road hazard then the police may be interested but deer are running wild all over the country, by the sides of motor ways so not sure that the RSPCA could have helped. Especialy if you got through to the charity shop - that said a charity sahop wortker, should not be rude, nor should anyone.
 
_CJ_ said:
such a shame about these stories, I have wondered several times what public agencies are responsible for animal welfare, because I would like to have the phone number in the car in case we come across anything. -Would be useful to have a local list of who to call about deer, cows, etc if it depends on what type of animal it is.

Horsehead, I thought the RSPCA was for abandoned animals/welfare cases, they are probably over burdened with those type of cases so perhaps it isn't that strange if they weren't overly impressed if you didn't take your cat to a regular vet? Also, I understand that the vet made your mum upset by suggesting the cat was not cared for, but if the animal looked like it was not cared for surely he ought to say something, - that is part of his job as an RSPCA vet, right? Besides, if they had any animals to deal with it seems only fair that you had to wait - I am sorry you were upset and had to wait, but their number one priority should be the animals, not grieving owners.
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The one in holloway, I won't say is name, that our cats go to is fr low income people to take their pets, they get the odd bird, and we've taken one stray that moved into our house and one we found run over but other than that they mostly deal with pets, it's the one Rolf Harris used to frequent and is over run by pikeys with staffordshire bull terriors, and the odd old lady with her mog, so that's not te reason thy weren't impressed, it's just that most of them seem miserable 99.9% of the time!
 
Destiny95 said:
yeap totally agree RSPCA are far from perfect. I've had rubbish experiences too and its **** that they didn't help better in all cases above.

But at the risk of upsetting a lot of people, they do help a lot of animals in the UK too. As many of you have said it is a charity - not a government department with Service Level Agreements and they have limited resources.... Personally I feel there is a growing feeling that the RSPCA HAVE to help in all cases - that it is their duty to help with every single reported case of domestic and farm animal cruelty case in the UK. That's an enormous workload and I can't see how they can possibly ever deliver on it no matter how much they try.

Obviously, this is Horse and Hound's forum so with the RSPCA's stance on the hunting issue I can't ever imagine this charity is going to be our charity of the year :) But lets not forget that there are lots of countries where there isn't an RSPCA - and animals suffer with no hope. So for the percentage of positive work the RSPCA do in the UK we shouldn't rubbish it completely and, if they could talk, a lot of animals would talk positively about the charity - in fact they owe their lives to it.

Seems a bit of a waffle but I hope you don't just fire back at me because I'm presenting a different opinion. No they don't always get it right but they don't always get it completely wrong either. I'd rather we had an RSPCA that cocks up on a percentage of cases than not have the charity at all.
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Here Here - I detect common sense in this resoponse
 
MM - the shop person could have helped by passing on my message, she works for the same organization.

This particular deer was on the dual carriageway - would your suggestion be that we just treat it as a roundabout? If it had been a wild horse, what would the answer be then I wonder.
 
Don't even bother calling the RSPCA for farm stock - go to your council trading standards or local Defra office, at least they have powers of entry, hich the RSPCA do not despite their smart uniforms which make everyone think they are something special. And for horse welfare, WHW evey time.
 
Not had any dealings with the RSPCA but a short time ago my daughter and her friends came across a roe hind with a broken hind leg wrapped in a barb wire fence, phoned the SSPCA and they were out and euthanised within half an hour. This was not in an easy to find area either. I phoned the SSPCA a few years ago about a Seagull with a broken wing who was being used as a bit of fun on a playing field by a man and his two dogs, phoned them and again they were out within half an hour, picked the seagull up and I presume euthanised it. I have heard not so good stories involving the SSPCA and horses but do they have as bad a rep as the RSPCA in general?
 
Actually my take on this is totally different - I'd have thought it wrong for the RSPCA to come to this call. The animal was unhurt, and there's no telling where it would be by the time an Inspector arrived. They need to concentrate their resources on animals already suffering, not ones which are totally fine but might possibly, maybe, suffer at some undefined point in the future.

They aren't perfect, but they don't deserve the hatred they get on this forum either.
 
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