RSPCA are totally inept, rude, etc I could go on

So begs the question - why keep returning to them for help if you find them useless. No one is saying you have to chase around after them!

I am not trying, with anyone, to be argumentative and I really do see your side of the coin. You and your friend has had a terrible experience - but its not like that with every case.

I have my opinion and you yours and they are both fair comments.

Hope we can in future have less heated debates - like on how those little ponies are getting on! We just need to thank God for friends like you, me and your friend for caring so much.

Shall we agree to disagree?
 

So - if they dont exceed their powers their wrong!

If they do exceed their powers - they wrong!!!
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What are they meant to do - get these animal abusers in a head lock and march them to.....where? They are Inspectors - not Police Officers. They only have the powers to issue these Notices - not arrest everyone. Perhaps 24/7 try to show them having a little more weight behind them - surely this is a good thing to deter animal abuse? And yes, if an animal is clearly being abused - why not take it away from its abuser - that's their job.

As yes, Charity Commission 'reminded' them - again, cant do wrong for right. They are only trying to help the animals we as the public have called about but have their limits. These people are animal lovers - just like you and me.

My rant over to
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Not so disappointed......

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They are always in the wrong if they exceed their legal powers. The question is, who decides whether someone is an animal abuser or not...some RSPCA do-gooder with no equine experience like the one Conniegirl told us about? What is the definition of an expert? And they have no more powers to issue 'Improvement notices' than you or I; the same applies to taking away animals. Only the police can do that.
I'm an animal lover, yes...but I know my limitations..which they clearly no longer do.
S
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nope no explination at all, just told to turn it loose again.
it may not be in thier brief to take them in but it is in thier brief to prevent suffering to animals which is what would have happened had this dog been hit by a car. Just a call or even giving us a number to call or place to go would have been all it would have taken.
 
I wonder if the real issue is perhaps that there are a lot of employees that work for the RSPCA who are simply doing their job, rather than looking out for animals being their passion...
Not saying this applies to everyone, but perhaps (i thnk it was walder) suggested that her local officer was very good - maybe thats because she/he has the passion and drive to fulfill her job to the best of her abilities, whereas to some people its just a job like any other.

I have found the RSPCA to be useless, the reasons for this could be many, but I almost feel that regardless of the reasons, often their failings mean the lives of animals which in my book is never ok.

I could be wrong though!
 
Agree with the poster who said...if the cameras are not runing...nowt will be done...I have experienced VERY first hand how useless they are...they rake in millions in legacies and donations and claim thay can make a difference....so how come in most cases....they do bugger all....if they cant do what they say they do...then dont badger people for donations.

My mam has taken countless numbers of abused/neglected dogs....she is not a charity and recieves no funding...nor does she ask for any....in the past year she has taken in well over 20 dogs that the RSPCA refused to have anything to do with.....inc the starving greyhound I featured in the dog forum.
However when my mam does a little investigation of her own as to the reasons behind the abuse and approaches the papers...the RSPCA suddenly pay an interest and would like to be involved.....yeah right
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Thanks for your replies, interesting reading.
I intend to give the information to a very good journalist who has contacted me.
Incidentally I did contact "other" welfare organisations and was told as I had involved the RSPCA there was not a lot the others could do as the RSPCA would not hand over the case to them even if they did investigate.......I do have all the e.mails etc.
These people were given a caution for animal cruelty, they have also stolen my horses passport which will cost us approx £150 to replace from Weatherbys. I reported them to the police who said it was not their department and that I should contact Enviromental Health Animal officer, we contacted them in Shropshire as this was where the horse had been on loan.....they told us I needed to contact my local officer, I contacted my local officer to be told I faced a £5000 fine for keeping a horse without a passport!!!!!! and refered back to Shropshire Trading Standards.
BUT at the end of the day a horse died, a horse that I was assured was OK and would be monitored.......I think I have a right to ask what went wrong.

Shilasdair......your support of the RSPCA is commendable as they really do need all the help they can get.
 
LilBonn, for anything horse related I would always contact the ILPH. For any other species I really do not now, our dog warden is very good on welfare cases but don't know how much power he has, otherwise would have to try the RSPCA but I'm afraid would not expect too much help. If anyone has contacts with the RSPCA it might be interesting to show them this thread, and some of the others on the forum relating to the RSPCA. And it is not just horse people who have lost faith in them, the dog press often has reports of people frustrated by lack of response from the RSPCA.
 
Shilasdair......your support of the RSPCA is commendable as they really do need all the help they can get.

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Harihorse - are you being sarcy or have you misread my post? I don't support the RSPCA, and am disappointed in them. I think you may have misread the top half of my last post as mine (I'm not so good at the quotes thing
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) but I was quoting another poster.
Hope you have a better time with horses in future
S
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I have always found the RSPCA very helpful in the cases of lost hedgehogs, damaged swans, baby rabbits - and do give then their due they took a cat in that we couldnt keep (a rescued stray that beat up our cats so we couldnt keep it - Ok we paid £50 for the privilage of giving it to them....)

But I personally think that they are, in many cases, totally out of their depth dealing with horses and very overstretch in many areas.
I think its the same with dogs in some areas - they simply dont have the resources to deal with what is reported.

On a different note I do have a huge problem with their re-homing policies.... but thats a debate for another day!
 
I do think one of the problems when it comes to rescuing horses is that they are a lot larger and not as easy to re home has a kitten. The RSPCA has filled it centres to the limit with unwanted "household" pets and horses take up a lot more space then they really have.

For smaller animals, I wouldn't hesitate to contact the RSPCA but for horses, I would rather put my trust in people who are there specifically for horses.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Shilasdair......your support of the RSPCA is commendable as they really do need all the help they can get.

[/ QUOTE ]

Harihorse - are you being sarcy or have you misread my post? I don't support the RSPCA, and am disappointed in them. I think you may have misread the top half of my last post as mine (I'm not so good at the quotes thing
wink.gif
) but I was quoting another poster.
Hope you have a better time with horses in future
S
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[/ QUOTE ]

So sorry Shilasdair it was not you it was LilBon I meant....
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I had the RSPCA visit my home last year. They said they had a report that our cat was starving to death. I work with saluki rescue and at the time had four in the house, all in supurb condition. This woman ranted and raved about how we should have food down for the cat at all times. I took her in the kitchen, showed her his food dish which was clean and full of Whiskas, a bowl of dry cat food, fresh water and then picked the cat up. She said look how skinny he is! I reached into our filing cabinet and brought out his vet certificate. It proved the cat (who is microchipped) is 25 years old. I asked her just what shape she expected a cat to be that was already years older then he should have been.
She nearly left skid marks leaving the house. We got no caution, no nothing, no apology.
Useless, the lot of them!
Suzi
 
I personally have a very low opinion of the RSPCA....

I went to dealers yard to look at a shetland filly and stumbled across 4 shetland colts shut in a dog kennel, along with about 2 feet of manky compacted manure and no water, they had half a slice of hay placed in one corner for them all. The guy said he hadn't had them long, but looking at their paperwork they'd been there over 10 months. I bought the smallest and weakest, a 14 month old colt, who was so emaciated my partner actually carried him, his hooves were so long they curled up, he was infested with lice and his belly and legs were matted. We got the vet immediately, clipped him, and the vet said he'd never seen a pony as skinny as him in his life, nursing him back to health we nearly lost him on several occasions. I called up the RSPCA in relation to the ponies I'd left there, the inspector called me back to say he'd visited and the dealer had wormers and food on the property....he could see nothing wrong, I then invited him down to visit the pony I'd bought, he declined, I left him my vets phone number as my vet wanted to speak to him but he never called him....I then phoned through to the ILPH and something was done....

About a year or so later I was out in the barn at home and heard a van pull up, assuming it was the farrier I shouted him through, and was met with not one but two RSPCA officers investigating claims that I was starving my black horse (who was out in a field with 3 others) I was nothing but cooperative, taking rugs off, showing passports etc, I even took them to the feed room etc, but they just kept ranting on about my mares lean condition, despite me providing proof that she was 37 years old....I was left in tears by some of the claims they were making, and their attitude was disgusting. I phoned and arranged them to come back whilst my vet was there, who really laid into the inspectors, who had all but accused me of 'not bothering to feed her due to her age and the cost of feed!'

They never took it any further but I didn't recieve an apology, despite putting a complaint against the officers in question. I'm all for them doing their job, and didn't mind in the slightest that they visited on recieving a complaint, but to be spoken to like that and accused of all sorts, having them not listen to anything I said about her and her care by someone on a power trip due to their uniform was bang out of order.

The best bit was me saying "She's on the best diet for her, created by an equine nutritionist, but at the end of the day she's 37, have a look at her teeth" and one of them replying "Why, what good would that do? It's her condition we're concerned about, not her teeth"

I mean come on!
 
Not commenting on how useless (or not) the RSPCA are but I laugh every time I remember them visiting my neighbour. My two Irish Setters were in the front garden and went to the wall to 'speak' to him. he put his arm over to stroke them and one put his paw on the guys sleeve. He was disgusted because he may have made his sleeve dirty!!! (He didn't, clean, dry paws)
 
The trouble with SSPCA (as they are in Scotland) inspectors is that they have all the relevant paperwork, but no people skills; no animal handling skills; no in depth knowledge of animal management; no idea what is involved in looking after animals 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, 52 weeks/year, for years in all weathers.

They invariably have a strong adherance to the furry animal brigade and seem to think that animals are just humans in funny attire.

The only time you can be sure of a swift, responsible and successfull response from them is if it involves money going into their coffers, or a high profile exposure for them.

In many cases of real cruelty to animals, when they fail to make any difference to the sad lives of the suffering, they claim their hands are bound by the inept welfare laws.

I could give several examples of their operations in my area, but this one I found quite sad:
One of the local farmers phoned to tell me that there was a swan in a three acre field nearby and it could not fly; he had contacted the SSPCA but it had been there for two days, although they knew about it for that time. The swan's mate was on the pond next to the field.
The farmer had called me as I keep poultry, and may have an idea what was wrong.
When I got to it I saw many fox prints all around it , the swan was filthy and exhausted, and stank of fox.
I took it to my place (despite my fear that it may be suffering from Avian Flu) and offered it food and water. It drank copiously but ate nothing. I took a note of its leg ring info.
My call to SSPCA Headquarters revealed that they new about it sure enough, and their officer (a local man with farming connections) " had been looking but could not locate it". They assured me he would call for it "first thing in the morning".
He arrived in the middle of the afternoon next day, stated that it would be suffering from lead poisoning in his estimation, and would probably die anyway. When pressed he named the vet he'd take it to, although it would "be a waste of time". Off he went.

The next morning, when I was checking my horses while exercising the dogs, after feeding the poultry,and I found the swan, dead and partly eaten by foxes, on the edge of the pond. Its mate was nowhere to be seen.
The vet (a friend of mine) told me he'd not seen the bird or its supposed saviour!.

I'm afraid I have to say I've never met, or heard of, a competent SSPCA inspector; nor have I met another member of the animal care industry with anything good to say about them.

They are a total waste of space.
 
At Stow fair a couple of years ago I came across a very large man trying sitting on a tiny shetland colt. You could barely see the pony, buried as it was underneath this man's huge bulk. It had on one of those blue nylon rope home made halters, with reins attached. The man was hauling on the reins and at the same time beating the colt with a walking stick, and the colts back end had collapsed beneath the weight. A couple of minutes before I'd seen 2 RSPCA officers making there way through the crowds, and I raced off to find them. I caught up with them at the hot dog van eating their lunch.Tapping one on the shoulder, I politely asked if they would come and sort out this situation. The RSPCA inspector looked me up and down as though I was completely deranged and said 'I haven't finished eating my chips yet', and then turned his back on me and totally ignored me. I was spitting with fury by now (I'd been amazingly calm up to that point)...eventually my husband had to drag me off before I resorted to physical violence.

On the other hand, while I was out dog walking recently I came across a paddock of very neglected ponies. Covered in lice, thin, feet like rams horns. I called a local RSPCA inspector, who turned up and saw them the next day. The day after he turned with a vet, the farrier and the police. The ponies were confiscated on the spot, and the owner prosecuted and banned from keeping any animal for a long time. But perhaps in this case I was lucky and just happened to come across one of the better RSPCA bods.
 
Out of interest I applied to become a member of the RSPCA - and my address seemed to cause major problems - the site would not allow me to progress any further as soon as my address was put in - The previous owner hunted I wounder if that blacklisted my address
 
I have posted here before about the RSPCA and how useless they are. If there is a problem with horses, I would always call the ILPH. Their field officers are all ex mounted policemen and they know the law and horses too.
 
[ QUOTE ]
what about the Daily Express or the Sun as well.....they are always into heartbreaking stories

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RAOTFLMAO!!!
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The RSPCA are utterly useless, some of you may remember the problem i had when i had to return a unpedictably argessive dog to them shortly before i had my baby.
I've been made to feel so bad for trying to ensure my babys safety.
I don't know who they think they are?
They think everyone else is stupid and they always know best.
Arrogant self-rightous bunny-hugging freaks, IMO
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We must remember that the welfare charities are just that - charities- have you any idea how much it costs to take forward a prosecution?

I work for a local authority and know how hard it is to get a case into court, even if the evidence is clearly stacked in your favour, even then you have to hope that you get a judge who gives a s***t. I know of cases where horses have been rehabilitated by the ILPH, the owner has been found guilty only for the judge to give the horse back - Is that a the fault of the welfare charity? - No.

I have worked closely with both the RSPCA and ILPH and cannot find fault. They cannot be everywhere and take every animal in, as other posters have said an awful lot of their time is spent educating and doing home checks. These issues are just as important.

These organisations are charities - there will never be enough money to go round, they have to be strict - I know that the ILPH have refused to take horses in when people couldnt handle them and advised if they cannot sell them then they should put them down - and rightly so, the responsibilty is with the owner, not the animal welfare organisation.

I am, sure there will always be exceptions to the rule, the case highlighted in this thread may be one of them, however when you consider how many hundreds of thousands of cases they have intervened succesfully, to condem the RSCPA on this basis is unfair and quite frankly wrong.
 
The RSPCA do a decent job, but unfortunately they are the main organisation people think of when reporting animal cruelty and sadly they do not appear to have the manpower and resources to cope with this.
I have had a couple of good experiences with them - last year they came and took a dog away which I found on a walk and a few months later when I reported a farmer for cruelty they successfully prosecuted him despite the farmer and this family making threats and trying to cause a lot of problems.
These days however I'm more inclined to use the ILPH or the Blue Cross for larger animals and my local animal shelter for dogs and cats etc.
 
I also unfortunately have had several bad experiences with the RSPCA. I without doubt think the quality of service is very dependant on your local inspectors and how much actual knowledge of animals and their care they actually have. Sadly many seem to mean well but no next to nothing about what a horse/goat/cow 'should' look like!

My experiences include the following:

At home we at one point had a livery which belonged to two boys. They had moved a long way as their dad (a priest!) has been relocated to a new church. They had been recommended by a friend of friend who knew the father (but not the pony or kids themselves) so they came. Soon very apparent they knew absolutely nothing, to the point they tried to put the saddle on backwards!! We tried to help where we could but we refused to do 'too much'. They very rarely mucked the poor pony out and fed it next to no hay and didn't top up the water in the stable or field. Now we wouldn't leave it without feed/ fresh water so did give it both. We contacted the local RSPCA, now the local officer was a friend and was horsey. Was told they could do nothing as we were feeding it and that we would have to stop doing so if they were even going to issue a caution!
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can tell you that didn't go down well. We did though stop topping up the field water enough to get her to caution them. In the end she would only have a friendly 'chat' explaining imoprtance of clean water ample feed. Needless to say it didn't help well it did for all of about a fornight but it returned to normal. Thankfully a few months later (with us continuing to give pony hay/water when they didn't turn up) they decided to sell the pony. Thankfully it went on to live a happier life. Due to location there was no option of the ILPH without them coming over on boat/plane!!

Second one was when adopting our cat. We decided rather than buy a kitten we would rescue one and we looked at all the local rescues and went to visit the local RSPCA centre. Well firstly their website directions were wrong (and still are I believe despite us telling them) which resulted in a 30min detour due to a 15mile stretch of dual carriageway without being able to turn round. Next on arrival just told 'go through that door' by the receptionist being pointed in general direction of kennels/cattery. We managed to find the cats and looked round and were eventually helped by a nice and polite lady who was the only person who stopped us walking away there and then. We found Minnie who was a 1yo stray who we fell for but they weren't sure about her and dogs. We therefore returned to reception to wait whilst they tested her reactions with a known friendly small dog. Whilst in reception we were just simply shocked. A family came ni with a box, they explained inside was a kitten with an slightly injured leg which they had found on the road the previous evening and taken in. They had rung the local vet who advised to take it to the RSPCA unless 'urgent'. So they had turned up (was a sat morning) having left the kitten in a warm box in the bathroom overnight to prevent their own cat attacking it, on the belief the RSPCA would take it in and offer it the veterinary care it needed. Well they were not congratulated on rescuing this poor kitten from near certain death, They were instead told very rudely and bluntly 'were full we can't take it in' no advice of who might be able to help. This was the centre manager and he just continued to be rude to everyone. Thankfully the father stood up for himself and made them take a lot at the poor kitten. IN the end I believe the RSPCA took it in as the father basically said they were leaving it there if they liked it or not. I understand that they might have been full, but there was no reason to be VERY rude and to offer no advice on where they could take it (i.e. several other local charities).

Will also say their rehoming methods are somewhat interesting as well including the homechecks!

The only plus point I really have about them is that we now have a very friendly cat who we love to bits or should I say she now owns us!!
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QR....

Hopefully with the new Animal Welfare law that is now in place, these incedents will become a thing of the past.
the RSPCA will be required by law to act BEFORE rather than after the event!
 
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