RSPCA. Knocking on doors.

lelly

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Just had two RSPCA reps knocking on my door. Trying to raise funds as they are running low. I'm affraid I wasn't very nice to them and it's not their fault. When I asked for their help once they weren't interested. Then to top it all they spent thousaonds of pounds prosecuting the hunt instead of spending the money on many animals in need. Sorry rant over.
 
They really do need to get back to basics and do what they were set up to do ... looking after animals in need of protection. I'm sorry they're getting cash strapped, I'm saddened but not surprised ... but a good PR campaign telling the world they're about "prevention of cruelty to animals" and not about political campaigning might be a good starting point for a turnaround in fortunes.
 
I feel so sorry for the people 'on the ground' many of them must be frustrated by the activities higher up in the organisation and its not their fault they are bound by so much red tape and rules. I would donate to a local centre trying to raise its own funds but I wont donate to the higher organisation
 
I too feel sorry for the people on the ground the ones that are so sure they are doing the right thing but without the support of the real activities of the RSPCA sadly I too will never give them a penny and it is soul destroying canvassing for a group with such lousy PR amongst the animal owning community. I am always being canvassed for money but I do my bit as a first responder and am on very tightly limited funds so cannot donate on a regular basis but do drop coins in rattled tins from time to time
 
We (all of us) are always being asked to donate to this, that or the other, we cant do it all the time. My pay hasnt gone up, but everything else has.
 
RSPCA have lost my respect - they should not be the political body that they have become and in some cases they have as much power as the police - which is hardly proportionate...
 
I had them at my doorstep recently too. I'm afraid I told them where to shove it (slightly more politely) and that I didn't want my money wasted on political agenda and hunt prosecutions. They were a little taken aback!

Hopefully things will improve a bit with the RSPCA now old whatsisface has done one!
 
I had Save the Children knock on my door asking for donations.

I gave them one of the children. :)

I donate monthly to the RSPCA (amongst others) as I like the work they do. Animals still get little protection from the law in the UK, so I'm happy to help in a small way.
 
I am a pensioner RSPCA Inspector, but if they came to my door, i would loop the loop !

I know how much this damned charity is worth, but because they insist on "autonomy of the local branches" (read - in a rich area the branch is rich), many of the areas in the country are desperate. It broke my heart then , and still does.

SURELY it is time for the branches to be treated equally ? :eek:

RSPCA get a grip.
 
I am a pensioner RSPCA Inspector, but if they came to my door, i would loop the loop !

I know how much this damned charity is worth, but because they insist on "autonomy of the local branches" (read - in a rich area the branch is rich), many of the areas in the country are desperate. It broke my heart then , and still does.

SURELY it is time for the branches to be treated equally ? :eek:

RSPCA get a grip.
I had no idea that is how they're organised! How ridiculous :-(
 
Just to say that the people that knocked on the door probably weren't from the RSPCA. Charities usually use a company to do this kind of find raising for them - I used to work for one of them :-(

I never did the knocking on doors part, but I used to sit in a call centre and make phone calls to people asking them to donate to whichever charity I was tasked with at that time, either start a monthly donation, or increase their current monthly donation. I've also stood in town centres, wearing a tabard advertising a particular charity and approached people on the street (called face-to-face fundraising).

I don't think I ever did RSPCA, but I did Dogs Trust (although called canine defense league back then), PDSA, Amnesty International, Save the Children, War on Want, Help the Aged to name a few - But I never actually worked for any of them, I was employed and paid by a seperate company (and paid very well!).
 
I am a pensioner RSPCA Inspector, but if they came to my door, i would loop the loop !

I know how much this damned charity is worth, but because they insist on "autonomy of the local branches" (read - in a rich area the branch is rich), many of the areas in the country are desperate. It broke my heart then , and still does.

SURELY it is time for the branches to be treated equally ? :eek:

RSPCA get a grip.

Don't know how long ago you worked for them Shysmum, but would have thought you knew that branches are actually separate 'charities' that take on the RSPCA logo. They have nothing to do with the National Society.
 
Just to say that the people that knocked on the door probably weren't from the RSPCA. Charities usually use a company to do this kind of find raising for them - I used to work for one of them :-(

I never did the knocking on doors part, but I used to sit in a call centre and make phone calls to people asking them to donate to whichever charity I was tasked with at that time, either start a monthly donation, or increase their current monthly donation. I've also stood in town centres, wearing a tabard advertising a particular charity and approached people on the street (called face-to-face fundraising).

I don't think I ever did RSPCA, but I did Dogs Trust (although called canine defense league back then), PDSA, Amnesty International, Save the Children, War on Want, Help the Aged to name a few - But I never actually worked for any of them, I was employed and paid by a seperate company (and paid very well!).

Re: Save the Children. As an ex-local branch treasurer for 15 years I can assure you that the small town collectors are all volunteers. Come Save the Children "week" we were out there door knocking and standing on the street corners for hours at a time. We were lucky if we got £800 for the effort that we put in, but no matter how hard we tried we never seemed to manage to raise more than £3.5k a year so that was well on the way to achieving our annual income. There were times when I felt like saying here's what I think I'd raise in this time period, so rather than me get cold, wet or cold shouldered, here is my donation and I'll do something more worthwhile. I never did because raising awareness of their work is also part of the task.
 
Re: Save the Children. As an ex-local branch treasurer for 15 years I can assure you that the small town collectors are all volunteers. Come Save the Children "week" we were out there door knocking and standing on the street corners for hours at a time. We were lucky if we got £800 for the effort that we put in, but no matter how hard we tried we never seemed to manage to raise more than £3.5k a year so that was well on the way to achieving our annual income. There were times when I felt like saying here's what I think I'd raise in this time period, so rather than me get cold, wet or cold shouldered, here is my donation and I'll do something more worthwhile. I never did because raising awareness of their work is also part of the task.

Well I can assure you that I raised money in town centres for Save the Children and I was paid a wage to do it and was never employed by the charity themselves. :-) We were based in Brighton and I did it in Brighton, Croydon and Chichester - we used to all go up on the train!
 
Not if donating the same amount to another animal charity will result in twice the amount of animals being helped

I think if you look at the annual statistics, the RSPCA rescue well in excess of any other animal welfare charity in this country.
 
Per pound donated?

That's a moot point YorksG. Because naturally a large organisation will have a lot more peripheral outgoings, particularly when it's the only one which takes prosecutions also, compared to smaller ones. So therefore, a smaller charity may put a larger percentage of their donations towards feed/bedding for instance, because they don't have the need to be paying more staff, vehicles, prosecutions, buildings, repairs etc etc etc the list goes on. However, the fact still remains, that the RSPCA rescue a staggering number of both wildlife and domestic/farm animals per annum in comparison to other charities. And I'm not suggesting that's because they do a better job than the others, but simply because they are the largest and most well known animal charity in the country, taking by far the most calls from the public each day, therefore obviously a much higher amount of animals will be rescued by them per year. It's all relative.
 
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RSPCA rescue centres like Gonsal Farm Animal Centre, near Shrewsbury, still do sterling work for the RSPCA.

http://www.rspca.org.uk/local/gonsal-farm-animal-centre/aboutus

I fostered a gypsy cob filly from them, she was a former abandoned emaciated cruelty case. They have a very professional set up there, and the equine facilities are excellent. It is set in 185 acres of land. I believe that it was purpose built using funds from a legacy with strict conditions attached.

Last year, Gonsal Farm rehomed 595 animals including 28 equines. This sort of facility is still desperately needed, and is what we rely on the RSPCA to provide.

I presumed that the centre is funded centrally, rather than relying on local donations. It must cost a large sum annually to run it.
 
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RSPCA rescue centres like Gonsal Farm Animal Centre, near Shrewsbury, still do sterling work for the RSPCA.

I fostered a gypsy cob filly from them, she was a former abandoned emaciated cruelty case. They have a very professional set up there, and the equine facilities are excellent. It is set in 185 acres of land. I believe that it was purpose built using funds from a legacy with strict conditions attached.

Last year, Gonsal Farm rehomed 595 animals including 28 equines. This sort of facility is still desperately needed, and is what we rely on the RSPCA to provide.

I presumed that the centre is funded centrally, rather than relying on local donations. It must cost a large sum annually to run it.

Gonsal farm are indeed a centre which belongs to the National Society.
 
Because naturally a large organisation will have a lot more peripheral outgoings, particularly when it's the only one which takes prosecutions also, compared to smaller ones. So therefore, a smaller charity may put a larger percentage of their donations towards feed/bedding for instance, because they don't have the need to be paying more staff, vehicles, prosecutions, buildings, repairs etc etc etc the list goes on. However, the fact still remains, that the RSPCA rescue a staggering number of both wildlife and domestic/farm animals per annum in comparison to other charities.

And - where possible - they happily dump surplus horses on other charities! And if they can't - and still have too many - they just put down the surplus - or ones that aren't part of an ongoing pending trial! And yes - that's fact. When BHS had its rescue centre, they took a number of horses off the RSPCA's hands - and I know a lass that is an experienced groom at one of their centres - it really pi**es her off the way the decide to bump off the latest in - with no real examination of the 'best' horses to keep!
 
And - where possible - they happily dump surplus horses on other charities! And if they can't - and still have too many - they just put down the surplus - or ones that aren't part of an ongoing pending trial! And yes - that's fact. When BHS had its rescue centre, they took a number of horses off the RSPCA's hands - and I know a lass that is an experienced groom at one of their centres - it really pi**es her off the way the decide to bump off the latest in - with no real examination of the 'best' horses to keep!

Yes, they use the help of other charities to house equines. And??? Err, and what would you suggest happens to surplus horses, when there is nowhere for them to be housed? In an equine crisis such as now? Send them to Hillside maybe?????????
 
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