New RSPCA video advert

[ycbm]

and when RSPCA stops spending money on lawyers and KCs they'll have more cash available to use for their core remit - i.e. animal welfare. My solicitor costs £325 per hour and I'd hate to think what the hourly rate is for KCs!

Also, the 'law' doesn't seem to stop other national animal welfare charities turning up to welfare cases reported to them....

It's the RSPCA's mandate to prosecute animal cruelty in this country. The goverment have effectively subcontracted the majority of animal cruelty prosecutions to them. I wish it hadn't been done, but it has, and it's very difficult to unwind it now and would carry a heavy tax burden for the CPS to take it all on.

The other charities aren't having to spend a fortune in court, and on boarding animals while they wait for court case to decide their fate to take place. Maybe they can afford more field staff.
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[Rowreach]

So the RSPCA were following legal guidance before seizing a dog and the local charity weren't. Not the RSPCAs fault.

Is that right? They seal an animal into a house and leave it for 48 hours before coming back to get it? That doesn't seem very humane.

 

[ycbm]

Is that right? They seal an animal into a house and leave it for 48 hours before coming back to get it? That doesn't seem very humane.

I would expect them only to do that if it's the legal advice they have been given about seizing someone else's property (the dog). The alternative is to take the word of someone they don't know, who may have all sorts of motives, that the animal has been abandoned. The only way to prove it if you can't speak to the owner is to do what they said they were going to do.

ETA I wouldn't mind betting someone has sued them in the past for taking their animal without authority.
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[FestiveG]

No one has the automatic right of entry to anyone's property. The RSPCA, along with any other entity, would need to apply to the court for a warrant, with a specific aim, and that warrant would need to be executed with the police in attendance, in fact the police are the ones to effect entry.

 

[Kaylum]

You put an abandonment notice on with contact details and you register it with the police. For horses you do anyway.

 

[tristars]

funny how its all happening at once, concerns over horse sport in general, now rspca sort of rebranding to catch the momentum or reflect what they are picking up on social media

 

[meleeka]

No one has the automatic right of entry to anyone's property. The RSPCA, along with any other entity, would need to apply to the court for a warrant, with a specific aim, and that warrant would need to be executed with the police in attendance, in fact the police are the ones to effect entry.

Animal Wefare Officers at the council have right of entry as well as the police. Some councils don’t even have one and the ones that do don’t have the budget to actually do anything.

 

[Jemima50]

and when RSPCA stops spending money on lawyers and KCs they'll have more cash available to use for their core remit - i.e. animal welfare. My solicitor costs £325 per hour and I'd hate to think what the hourly rate is for KCs!

Also, the 'law' doesn't seem to stop other national animal welfare charities turning up to welfare cases reported to them....

Exactly !
They wasted 1.5 mil trying to ,unsuccessfully, prosecute a hunt over ONE fox.
Just imagine how many animals they could have helped with that money.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Exactly !
They wasted 1.5 mil trying to ,unsuccessfully, prosecute a hunt over ONE fox.
Just imagine how many animals they could have helped with that money.

Which case was that?

The law breaking hunts (and we all know that they are out there) absolutely should be prosecuted, but preferably not with charity money.

 

[equinerebel]

Exactly !
They wasted 1.5 mil trying to ,unsuccessfully, prosecute a hunt over ONE fox.
Just imagine how many animals they could have helped with that money.

I assume their justification was that they were attempting to help many more foxes by prosecuting blatant law breaking/animal cruelty

 

[FestiveG]

Animal Wefare Officers at the council have right of entry as well as the police. Some councils don’t even have one and the ones that do don’t have the budget to actually do anything.

Not without a warrant they don't, neither do defra officials

 

[palo1]

The ad feels very superficial to me Respect for all animals is of course the right message but the RSPCA are supposed to uphold welfare laws. Farming isn't illegal, nor is treading on a snail. It's muddling up questionable but common and legal methods of husbandry (not snail squishing, which millions of gardeners do rather than use truly horrible slug pellets...) with vague notions of cruelty and silly anthropomorphism in my view. The RSPCA are pretty hopeless so it's not entirely surprising though!

 

[meleeka]

Not without a warrant they don't, neither do defra officials

They right of entry over land I believe. Am I right in thinking even the police don’t without a warrant?

 

[FenrisW]

love love love it. it says so much in a thinking sort of message. its excellent.

The video and the campaign are a rather silly Disneyfication of animals and appear to be aimed at children and young people. See:

RSPCA rebrand Disneyfies animals for profit

The RSPCA is rebranding with a new campaign. The rebrand is likely to be about raising money. A spokesman for the RSPCA said: “financial modelling showed that if we do nothing, we will lose s…

theshg.wordpress.com

 

[FenrisW]

Those who think that the RSPCA does a good job of prosecuting please have a look at The SHG submission to the Justice Committee on private Prosecutions.

The SHG response to the Justice Committee call for evidence on Private Prosecutions: Safeguards

This submission has been published on the Justice Committee website. The Justice Committee have published their report. Note that they with held the names of the RSPCA inspectors who were given awa…

shgconsultationresponses.wordpress.com

 

[kathantoinette]

I don’t like the advert…I then heard Packham’s and I disliked it even more.

 

[ycbm]

Those who think that the RSPCA does a good job of prosecuting please have a look at The SHG submission to the Justice Committee on private Prosecutions.

The SHG response to the Justice Committee call for evidence on Private Prosecutions: Safeguards

This submission has been published on the Justice Committee website. The Justice Committee have published their report. Note that they with held the names of the RSPCA inspectors who were given awa…

shgconsultationresponses.wordpress.com

That is 4 years old, I would hope that they may have changed some things since that report was published.
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[FenrisW]

That is 4 years old, I would hope that they may have changed some things since that report was published.
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Can you suggest anything they have changed that is material to the report? Private prosecutions are very much in the news at the moment. Which is why the RSPCA is so desperate to be given powers. They know the end is near.

 

[ycbm]

Can you suggest anything they have changed that is material to the report? Private prosecutions are very much in the news at the moment. Which is why the RSPCA is so desperate to be given powers. They know the end is near.

I don't intend to read a long 4 year old report and I'm not up to date with how the RSPCA are acting now. I don't know what you mean about them being "desperate to be given powers" or that "the end is near". I don't agree with them being the animal welfare prosecutor for the government but it is what it is.

You have a user name very similar to someone who launched an all out attack against the RSPCA on the forum a few years back. Welcome to the forum if you're new, otherwise welcome back.
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[Pearlsacarolsinger]

They right of entry over land I believe. Am I right in thinking even the police don’t without a warrant?

No they don't!

They might like you to think they do but they *all* need a warrant, which has to be applied for and will only be granted if there are reasonable grounds.

Eta, anyone can walk along a PROW so may be able to access land that way.

 

[cbmcts]

I'm really not fond of the advert, it's just a bit twee for my liking and doesn't really define what 'respect' for a living animal is.

On the subject of animal cruelty prosecutions, it is an absolute disgrace that as a wealthy country with an effective justice system, we are relying on a charity to enforce the law and prosecute offenders. That's without taking into account the lack of oversight that the RSPCA have which includes allowing them to pick and choose who to prosecute - it would be understandable if they have to take into account whether they have a chance of getting their costs awarded or will it tug on public heartstrings and get donations before launching a prosecution - but is against natural justice. It's also far too much responsibility and power to give any 'private' organisation. No matter what quasi official titles they give their staff, they have no more powers than you or I. The Post Office scandal is a perfect example of why this shouldn't happen.

Enforcing the law and prosecuting offenders is a state responsibility, where there is transparency, oversight of decisions made and accountability for actions. We, as voters/citizens can hold them to account and demand change i.e. by raising a petition and getting 100k? signatures and have the issue raised in parliament and/or lobbying our MP. It's not much but it at least is something...

 

[ycbm]

Here's a link to the advert for those who haven't seen it.

I've just watched it. It's cute, but I think as marketing for the RSPCA it's a complete mess. It doesn't tell you what the RSPCA do. Worse, it seems to suggest that swatting a fly is on the same level as abusing a dog. Are they suggesting people shouldn't kill flies? That they should walk along pavements with their eyes glued to the floor not to step on a snail? Do a penance if they crush one accidentally? That they don't want your money for abused puppies if you buy cage eggs?

I can easily see how that will stop some of their core donors from donating. Still, it's gone viral I guess because there's a lot of content about it online and a whole article in the Telegraph today, so it might work.
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[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Good grief don't tell me the RSPCA have updated that ad they've been putting up for ages now which obviously relates to the COVID period.

Wonders never cease.

Haven't seen the new one so will reserve judgement.

 

[blitznbobs]

They right of entry over land I believe. Am I right in thinking even the police don’t without a warrant?

They can enter if they believe there is a risk to life. I have on more t than one occasion asked police to attend to break into a house where I believe a person to be unwell and unresponsive

 

[twiggy2]

Anthropomorphism at its best, it not respectful to characterise animals at all, many people go too far down that route already and dont respect the animals needs.
i am not a fan of the RSPCA they never stepped up to the mark with injured and straying animals once in the 14 yrs i was a vets receptionist, i have witnessed a dog kept alive and suffering in order to be part of a court trail, i have seen them take said dog for 4 referals until they found a vet that woukd say it was ethical to keep said dog alive for current footage of the dog to be shown in court. The dog really did not desrve that.

 

[Kaylum]

On the subject of animal cruelty prosecutions, it is an absolute disgrace that as a wealthy country with an effective justice system, we are relying on a charity to enforce the law and prosecute offenders. That's without taking into account the lack of oversight that the RSPCA have which includes allowing them to pick and choose who to prosecute - it would be understandable if they have to take into account whether they have a chance of getting their costs awarded or will it tug on public heartstrings and get donations before launching a prosecution - but is against natural justice. It's also far too much responsibility and power to give any 'private' organisation. No matter what quasi official titles they give their staff, they have no more powers than you or I. The Post Office scandal is a perfect example of why this shouldn't happen.

Enforcing the law and prosecuting offenders is a state responsibility, where there is transparency, oversight of decisions made and accountability for actions. We, as voters/citizens can hold them to account and demand change i.e. by raising a petition and getting 100k? signatures and have the issue raised in parliament and/or lobbying our MP. It's not much but it at least is something...

I strongly agree but there is no money and they collect the evidence. For example my friend's husband was killed out cycling by a car driver who was on his phone. Evidence collected by the police took 2 years to get phone record reports, expert statements etc. Countless visits to my friend. Then they had to apply to the cps for funding to go to court. Your evidence has to be so tight.

There aren't enough resources to do animal cases when human cases take so much work.

Anyone can do private prosecutions.

 

[Goldenstar]

Yes I think it’s a good advert it communicates where their energies lie .
It also communicates to me if you want to save animals in need like the old dog mentioned above there are better places.
Like the local charity my Mum went to for her cats.

 

[Peglo]

I don’t like the advert either. It feels all over the place and as someone said I don’t think mowing your lawn, unintentionally mowing insects, can be compared to intensive chicken farming or deliberate cruelty.
I get the point of trying to make people consider their behaviour towards all animals but I just find the advert annoying.

 

[splashgirl45]

Perhaps I’m the wrong age but found the ad very confusing. Don’t really understand focusing on the snail , seems very odd to me.

 

[Goldenstar]

I don’t like the advert either. It feels all over the place and as someone said I don’t think mowing your lawn, unintentionally mowing insects, can be compared to intensive chicken farming or deliberate cruelty.
I get the point of trying to make people consider their behaviour towards all animals but I just find the advert annoying.

Perhaps I’m the wrong age but found the ad very confusing. Don’t really understand focusing on the snail , seems very odd to me.

It’s good ad ,the ad agency has done well, its communicates the ethos of the RSPCA and where it’s going well .