cptrayes
Well-Known Member
That's not true either. The CPS DOES bring cases for animal cruelty. The Cheale Meat case and the Anne the elephant case are just 2 recent high profile cases brought by the CPS! The CPS - however - does require GOOD evidence and a reasonable chance of success before it brings a prosecution.
Guilty is guilty Janet, it does not matter what the chance of success is, the burden of proof is the same no matter who brings the case.
In fact I would say that the CPS cherry-picking of a very small number of very high profile cases shows exactly the opposite of what you are suggesting. The RSPCA do the bread and butter cases, the CPS pick the big ones.
Given the current cost cutting going on in the CPS, I do not think that any conclusion about the validity of this prosecution can be drawn by the CPS standing aside and letting the RSPCA pick up the costs in this case.
For the RSPCA, it's more about publicity - there are headlines while a case runs. There are more headlines if there is a conviction. If a case is later thrown out on Appeal, that rarely gets the same coverage!
This is nonsense, there are routine run of the mill starved dog and mistreated cat cases in court by the RSPCA on a frequent basis in English and Welsh courts. They may get a line or two in the local rag, if that.
I missed the word "almost" out of my sentence, for which I apologise. But the RSPCA do all except the major headline animal cruelty cases in Magistrate's Courts.
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