RSPCA muddy field case update!

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Alphamare

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So he got in touch.

and apprently not only did he leave a note on the gate...

he actually went onto my property!!!!!!!!!!!!

He claims on the phone that they have the right to do this.

do they?

He said the horses seemed fine and he could see the food/water/shelter etc etc and would close the case. Still doent help the fact that he was trespassing!
 
No they don't have a right of entry but trespass is not a criminal offence, it is a civil one. You could write to head office though and highlight that this officer said he did have right of entry so they can be re-educated if you wanted. That is unless there is a footpath across the field, in which case they can enter on the footpath.

Glad it all worked out in the end, I knew it would and it's closed now. I do wonder if it was worth all the agro, but everyone is different and react to situations in different ways. In defense of welfare organisations attending calls, naturally summed it very well at the end of your previous thread. Without attending, real welfare cases would not be discovered. So I do not critise the attendance here. And checking that the horses were ok whilst there, is it that bad?
 
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My understanding is that the RSPCA have no legal right of entry to property - no more legal right than any ordinary citizen. They are trespassing if you have asked them to leave. If they have the police with them, that is a different matter. The police are the ones who have the right to enter and the right to seize an animal.

I agree, though that they do need to have a look at every case they hear about - otherwise the real ones would get missed.

All's well that ends well!
 
That is a relief for you!

Personally I would leave well enough alone as he was only doing his job and the RSPCA do get criticised a lot for not bothering. Checking for water, food and general condition seems a sensible thing to do and he didn't cause you or your horses any harm.
 
jinglejoys said:
Closing the case presumes that there was a case to open!
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Not that i am aware or that i gathered from my conversation with him. When someone rings they obviously open something. Then they investigate. If happy they close it.

Or something.

I have no idea.

What ever i am just happy they are butting out now.

What i am not happy about is the trespassing.

Anyway i may do what competition diva suggests and write, but i may not. Ill calm down first.
 
jinglejoys - i presume that because they went out and left a note etc, this was classed as case open until they ascertainted for themselves that everything was ok and its simply a formality than anything.
 
jinglejoys said:
Closing the case presumes that there was a case to open!
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If they had a complaint then they would open a case in order to investigate the complaint, so yes, a case was opened but then closed when the inspector saw there was nothing to worry about.

OP, tbh, the inspector was trespassing as they have no legal right of entry onto private property without a warrant. In my view it is better that they do this if it identifies genuine negligence or cruelty immediately or indeed, as in this case, identifies those cases where they need spend no more time and the animals are completely fine. I would be tempted to let it go!
 
I wouldn't get overly stressed about the trespassing thing, you'd all be ranting if there was a situation where a horse was needing help and the officer wouldn't even set foot on the land to check them.
I can understand why you are so miffed about this, but there is no harm done. Be thankful that the RSPCA are keeping an eye on some things at least. Don't take it so personally.
 
Personally, at the end of the day, you were proved right. Let it go. Don't report him to the head office because, if it was a different situation, he may have saved the lives of multiple horses that day. We complain that they don't do anything but when they do we complain more.

Be happy in the kowledge that your horses are well cared for and the inspector agreed with that.
 
Ditto this. Can you imagine how worried you would be if someone told you they had seen a stranger walking round your field looking at your horses, the note was probably just a courtesy.
As has been said, at least the RSPCA acted and now they are happy with your horses I would be inclined to leave it at that.
 
Glad it's all worked out for you OP. I too would have been upset if I had been reported for something which sounds so silly, although I do appreciate that if a complaint is made, they have to investigate, and if it means that Spindles Farm isn't repeated, it's all to the good - although I believe that Spindles was reported many times and nothing done, i seem to remember over a period of a couple of years before something actually happened.

What I would like to know, in regards to the trespass, is if the officer had been injured whilst trespassing, what would have happened? They have no right to enter your property and therefore should not.
 
if he is stating he has the right to enter then i would contact head office & just advise them of his incorrect information.
had one of your horses hurt him would you have been libel? or had he caused one to panic & harm themselves would they be libel? he was tresspassing BUT.....

i know my boy would never hurt a fly as he is too bigger wimp but may well hurt himself tring to get away & my loan mare (who has now gone) would have flattened anyone who got too close to "HER MAN!!!"

for his welfare & the welfare of the horses/ponies he visits let headoffice know to just correct/re-educate him
 
Trespass is always a hard one when it comes to welfare checks, yes you feel violated, because you know your horses are well and fine, but the officer doesn't. On another day at another field (possibly from a call you made) there could well be say an emaciated horse around the corner, but if the officer doesn't check, they won't see it and once again the RSPCA would be slated! They can't go around with a police officer all the time, that would be a waste of police resourses, and the police don't do welfare visits, so who else is there to go and check on calls made???

Also I doubt you'd be liabel (sp?) regarding injury etc on your land though.
 
Maybe if the RSPCA had the right to enter property where a complaint had been made then they would have been able to get into spindles farm sooner and have a good look around?

I hope to god if the RSPCA ever turned up on my doorstep to follow up a complaint that i would be gracious enough to allow them to view wherever the needed to go and be polite about it, after all if you have nothing to hide then surely where is the problem?

OP IMO your anger should be directed at the person who made the complaint and only then if it was done with a malicious intent. After reports on the news of horses being found near dead or dead at the side of the roads or in fields it is "normal", i would presume, for caring animal lovers to be concerned, even if their concern is misguided.

As for writing to complain about him "trespassing", really think about the consequences if every person wrongly suspected of animal neglect\abuse wrote and complained about the Inspector, it would likely result in the animal welfare groups having even less "powers" than they have now.
 
Booboos said:
That is a relief for you!

Personally I would leave well enough alone as he was only doing his job and the RSPCA do get criticised a lot for not bothering. Checking for water, food and general condition seems a sensible thing to do and he didn't cause you or your horses any harm.
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Agree ^^

There are so many threads criticising the RSPCA for not bothering and yet they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I can well imagine how the OP felt/feels but OTOH how angry would she be if she had reported a case of neglect and they failed to check?
 
One of the reasons i am upset about him trespassing is because i know that you the land owner are responsible for any injury on your land even if you were not there and the person was trespassing.

I also have an increadibly flighty mare who has tendon problems and if her tendon blows again i would have been forced to put her to sleep. This arrangement may sound drastic but it comes from pre discussion with our vet who believes 9as i do) that she could not handle another blow out.

Yes he may not have known that, but as i said in the other thread we have enough trouble with people coming in and chasing them (how she ended up with the problems)

The mare has been completely on edge the last couple of days and i was sure someone had been in the field again... and i was right!

Him trespassing would have gone very badly had my mare torn her tendons and had to be put down. I know thats worst case scenario but it could have happened she has done herself huge damage in the past over very little. and YES before anyone starts berating me she is on all the appropriate calming suppliaments including magnesium valerian and dandelion.
 
NeverSayNever said:
so if he checked the horses and saw that everything was fine - why did he leave a note and why was there a case at all?:confused:
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Because someone might've seen him on your land and told you. And you'd be worried sick (probably) that someone was snooping to steal or injure your horses.

This way, you knew it was the RSPCA and could rest assured that he was there to do neither.

Glad it's all sorted out :)
 
The RSPCA have no right of entry, end of. Trepass is, as already stated a civil offence, not a criminal one. They do however like to give the impression that they can do this, but I expect many animals have been removed from their own personal hell by the use of this tactic enabling access, removal, & often grounds for criminal proceedings.

If this guy had walked around the corner & found another Carrot or Spud instead of your well cared for horses, he would have been a hero going above & beyond the call of duty in everyones eyes.

I hope now at least this will stop preying on your mind, & that you can let it go & move on.
 
Hmm, I'm no fan of the RSPCA; but I betcha wots happened in this case is that you've got a nosey individual somewhere in the background, who's reported you to the RSPCA.

We've got one here in the village. She walks her dog around with another hag in tow and they know sweet FA about horses, but every time I see them out riding they're on about "poor horses being out in this weather without rugs on", and stuff like this. I try to educate them by giving it to them straight that the horses in question are well cared for and have been turned away for the winter, which is why they've not got rugs on, but they just don't want to hear it and are convinced that the horses are badly cared for - even though they belong to the local stud and are most certainly not!!!

So I suspect you've got a nosey parker around - it could be a jogger, cyclist, dog walker, or rambler, or someone like this, who knows sweet b^gger all about horses but considers it their personal crusade to report everyone to the RSPCA.

I'd be annoyed, damned annoyed - its happened to us here; we returned home to find an RSPCA van outside and all the neighbours gawking - and it turned out to be someone we were in dispute with over another and they'd done it out of spite.
 
Slightly o/t, but related to the trespass thing. Whilst walking my dogs this afternoon I noticed a mare in the field next to me was caught in electric fence, so after taking the dogs home I went back and released her. Now in this case I know the owners and do keep an eye on their horses, but had this mare been unknown to me I would still have tried to help her, so would of course been technically trespassing. I have never given it a thought before (I often go into fields to right stupid sheep that are stuck on their backs) just wondered what others would do.
 
sychnant said:
Glad it's all worked out for you OP. I too would have been upset if I had been reported for something which sounds so silly, although I do appreciate that if a complaint is made, they have to investigate, and if it means that Spindles Farm isn't repeated, it's all to the good - although I believe that Spindles was reported many times and nothing done, i seem to remember over a period of a couple of years before something actually happened.

What I would like to know, in regards to the trespass, is if the officer had been injured whilst trespassing, what would have happened? They have no right to enter your property and therefore should not.
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Agree with most people on here and find it refreshing that people are sticking up for the RSPCA for once. One of the reasons James Gray/Spindles got so bad is because the RSPCA can't just enter propteries. Its not until they have enough evidence that they can invlove the police and get a warrant for the animals. I would be glad that someones showing some compassion for your horses rathter than getting upset about it - you might be grateful oneday if they spot one colicing etc....
 
MurphysMinder said:
Slightly o/t, but related to the trespass thing. Whilst walking my dogs this afternoon I noticed a mare in the field next to me was caught in electric fence, so after taking the dogs home I went back and released her. Now in this case I know the owners and do keep an eye on their horses, but had this mare been unknown to me I would still have tried to help her, so would of course been technically trespassing. I have never given it a thought before (I often go into fields to right stupid sheep that are stuck on their backs) just wondered what others would do.
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I too go into fields to upright sheep. If I didn't they would be stuck there and the crows would peck their eyes out, Not had a problem with farmers about it.
Having a lot of experience with horses I would also go into a field with strange horses if one was in trouble along with going for help or whatever was appropriate. From reading the comments I wonder if I would be welcome or not? A catch 22 situation as I would not like people trespassing on my land and handling my horses but if it saved them from serious injury then I would be grateful.
 
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