RSPCA - good or bad?

[cat72uk]

i dont knock them as an orginisation on the whole
it could have just been one of those snooty phone operaters
that you get sometimes

[Chas]

There are numerous examples of people with aviaries being raided by RSPCA accompanied by police and having their stock impounded by them only to have the stock returned months later in worse condition than when impounded and obviously stressed. There are very clear guidelines published by aviculturalists on how to handle the RSPCA and their intrusions and like I have already said they have no more powers than you or I. On occasions the RSPCA have also been prosicuted for transporting dangerous animals, ie a snake in an unsuitable container after they, along with the police had seized the reptile.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Chas

they have no more powers than you or I. .

that'll be why they bring the police along then i think you will find that the police have significantly more powers than you or I

and for the record there are also a fair few cases of people with avaries getting raided by the rspca and then getting prosecuted for keeping their birds in unsuitable conditions and/or having species they were not supposed to have.

[bendog]

"Playing devil's advocate- the Fox mentioned above died before the animal sheler person arrived, so actually the RSPCA assessed the situation right, and the offer to put it to sleep was correct."
I wish I had the capability to assess the health of an animal from such a distance - the person I spoke to stated that they ALWAYS put foxes to sleep and NEVER attempted to treat them. I had the same response to the squirrel that my cat caught. Again, I found a wildlife centre that I could take it to.

[NatureTrainee]

Originally Posted by bendog

" I had the same response to the squirrel that my cat caught. Again, I found a wildlife centre that I could take it to.

As grey squirrels are not native, it is illegal to release them once captured so it is often less cruel to put them to sleep than subject them to a life of captivity if they recover.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by NatureTrainee

As grey squirrels are not native, it is illegal to release them once captured so it is often less cruel to put them to sleep than subject them to a life of captivity if they recover.

this actually isnt true anymore as a recent change in the law removed grey squirells from the list of things you can't release (see the thread on that in the mammal forum) - also prior to that wildlife centres could get a licence to release. (also it has been argued in some cases that removing temporarily from the wild for treatment doesnt qualify as captivity and therefore unlicenced release from a treatment centre would also be legal - tho this fine distinction is open to debate.)

[Chas]

Originally Posted by eeyore

that'll be why they bring the police along then i think you will find that the police have significantly more powers than you or I

and for the record there are also a fair few cases of people with avaries getting raided by the rspca and then getting prosecuted for keeping their birds in unsuitable conditions and/or having species they were not supposed to have.

2 points here, please read my thread properly please before you seek to make comments about it. Of course the police have more powers than than you or I. My serious none inflammatory statement was that the RSPCA have no more powers than you or I and need to be accompanied by the police before they can take any actions against anyone. I don't doubt that on lots of occasions raids are carried out on people who are guilty of wildlife crimes, but that wasn't my point and I don't seek to condone their actions of guilty people, in fact the reverse. I am simply trying to get the point across that the RSPCA have no legislative powers of their own, and like I said no more than you and I as individuals. So. please don't try to insinuate that I support the confinement of native species or the keeping of wildife in poor conditions. This IS your implication and I resent it.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Chas

2 points here, please read my thread properly please before you seek to make comments about it. Of course the police have more powers than than you or I. My serious none inflammatory statement was that the RSPCA have no more powers than you or I and need to be accompanied by the police before they can take any actions against anyone. I don't doubt that on lots of occasions raids are carried out on people who are guilty of wildlife crimes, but that wasn't my point and I don't seek to condone their actions of guilty people, in fact the reverse. I am simply trying to get the point across that the RSPCA have no legislative powers of their own, and like I said no more than you and I as individuals. So. please don't try to insinuate that I support the confinement of native species or the keeping of wildife in poor conditions. This IS your implication and I resent it.

chas i suggest you save your resentment as i made no such insinuation - perhaps you should take your own advice and read my post propperly before you reply to it.

as you dont support the confinement of wildlife or the keeping of animals in poor conditions one wonders why you knock the rspca for carrying out raids (with the police who wouldnt be along if they didnt feel it was warranted) aimed at preventing this.

while the rspca do not have legislative powers they clearly do have the ability to influence the police to act on their behalf and they also have an investigations department dedicated to prosecuting those that violate the law and undercover officers who work to gather evidence on criminal animal abuse - all of which does give them significantly more power to act than the average citizen

[djackso]

Does anyone think I should ask a Mod to close this thread? Maybe the subject is a little emotive - I don't like the idea of folks fighting

[stripee]

Whatever their faults, I'm glad the RSPCA exists. I'm sure they don't always get it right, but imagine what it be like without them. Their powers are necessary in a cruel world. And, as has been said, there are different agencies available for different animal problems that the RSPCA are not geared up for.
Their pages on the net include useful information on many animals, and their campaigns have raised awareness on many issues - including currently Back off Badgers

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by djackso

Does anyone think I should ask a Mod to close this thread? Maybe the subject is a little emotive - I don't like the idea of folks fighting

don't worry - i've asked them to remove my last post - while i stand by my comments i appreciate that the last thing we need is a punch up, and as ever i'm happy to agree to disagree for the good of the site.

[Chas]

Finally may I just say that I applaud the RSPCA for any good work they do. But I don't like the way that they "ponce" around in Military/police style uniforms and call themselves inspectors and wear officers pips and try to give the impression that they are another branch of law enforcement in the UK when they are not. I still maintain that they are self appointed and have no more power than any individual. Like I said before I even have a close friend who is currently a receptionist at our local centre so I know exactly what they do and how they operate. I even know that they act as judge and jury when people bring in small rodents for re-homing and.......well lets say that the reptiles have a good feed on those days...... Finally the idea of a forum is for people to express their opinions and even if you don't agree with someone else, then you should respect their right to an opinion.

[blueboar]

Bad.

[djackso]

Any reason you feel that way?

[blueboar]

Originally Posted by djackso

Any reason you feel that way?

Yep,

We have had injured birds here, ie Barn Owls, Sparrow hawk swans etc and we asked them for help and advice and can they collect them. The answer was no, take them to a vet.

So we said to them, that they have been to collect pigeons which have fallen out of nests and even called the fire brigade out to get the chicks. We said that some of the birds are protected by law and their answer was... none! they hung up on us.

So we don't bother with them, they will only turn up if there is a camera crew with them.... if no camera crew, sort it out yourself

[djackso]

Oh, that sounds bad - very distressing. I have heard similar stories. Someone advised trying to find a wildlife centre for cases such as these. You'd think that if the RSPCA couldn't help they could have suggested this. But to just hang up! What was that all about?

[deer boy]

Well my only experience of the RSPCA was a couple of weeks ago as i said earlier in this thread & i couldn't fault them.
As in all walks of life there are good & bad & this thread proves people have had good & bad experiences with the RSPCA.
I don't think it's fair to class them as a good or bad organization based on our personal dealings with them,because different areas clearly have different responses.
We can only hope the animals they do help get the best treatment possible

[Deerhunter]

I think they should have stayed as a neutral charity looking after animals in need and not become political organisation.

[Blackbrook Eye]

I think that most people who raise issues regarding the RSPCA for one reason or another are missing the point of the reason for the organisation, the two words in their title sum up the reason for their existance 'prevention of cruelty' they do not purport to be a wildlife rescue organisation, there are plenty of those around, they seem to be a victim of their own publicity, in so far that being so well known the are expected to administer aid to all animals irrespective of whether cruelty is present or not. In my opinion, this is unfair on a group of dedicated people who have enough on their plate preventing the abuse of animals, without having to administer to the needs of those who are just in distress, much as most of us would hate to see any animal suffer, there is a limit to the amount of time that can be spared to undertake extra jobs, which do not come under the societies brief. Few of us would get a favourable response from the boss if we kept doing jobs for the firm next door on his time.

Keith

[dampflippers]

You wouldn't expect the NSPCC to treat children who were ill, or had injured themselves tripping over in the playground, or who had head lice (unless though neglect).

Bendog, I hadn't realised they said they always put those animals to sleep- sorry.

[Dillibags]

Reading through these posts it seems to me that the RSPCA would put themselves in a better light if they kept a list of the various regional wildlife organisations by their phones. At least that way, rather than saying we don't deal with these animals, they would be able to give phone numbers of people that could help.

I have only just found out that there are 2 wildlife rescue organisations within 20 miles of me, now have their numbers pinned up just in case

[Adam Cheeseman]

I've never had a good experience with them regards wildlife and I never bother to get them if the need arises. Fortunately, we do have several alternative choices locally, but I guess most people don't have that option. I certainly don't recommend them to the public with wildlife matters.

Cheers,

Adam

[Nightranger]

Originally Posted by djackso

Are the RSPCA any use whatsoever when it comes to helping with wildlife? Does helpfulness vary depending on region?

I have had to resort to calling them on occasion. Advice has been poor. The advice for an injured woodpigeon was to leave it outside for the cats to get it!

I’ve had bad experiences in London and Liverpool.

I read on this forum they were ok with cats and dogs – not so in my experience (unless leaving the cats the injured woodpigeon was being good to cats!!!)
But I am reliably informed that they can pay for the treatment of injured wildlife.

Does anyone else have experience of their service? Does anybody work for them and can you explain their policies?

Hi all (my first post),

There are two problems that the RSPCA face when it comes to widlife rescue and whilst one is partly of their own making (but they are trying to solve it) the other is not. The RSPCA uses a call centre system and the person a caller speaks to is unlikely to be qualified in welfare or rescue. This does not excuse making throwaway comments but it does mean that they are just as likely to tell you to leave a seemingly injured bird (a la RSPB who do not have rescue facilities) because it may be young and pre-fledged. Young birds will delberately leave the nest if they are threatened by a predator along with first flights not always going to plan. The parents often continue to feed a grounded youngster and whilst handling (birds mostly have a poor sense of smell) to a safe place is no problem, taking the youngster into captivity is not a good idea. Survival rates of rehabilitated birds are four times less than if they had been left to chance because they fail to learn the lessons of life and often do not know how to forage when the parents abandon them. In addition, some birds are likely to imprint on humans making them particularly difficult to release. A telephone operative does not need to mention cats (did this really happen? ) but it is a good idea to leave birds at this time of the year.

The second problem is one of sheer demand at this time of the year and whilst better training (I believe the RSPCA is trying to address this at the call centre) will help to filter calls, it is true that we as the general public barrage them with calls during the time when young animals are around. Unfortunately, this is often avoidable and is made worse by the tendency of uninformed people (I assume no one here) to try to pass the responsibility on despite being given the correct advice. I have never worked for the RSPCA but I have worked in wildlife welfare so I could tell you a few tales like the one about the young great spotted woddpecker driven 50 miles from where it was stunned (but uninjured) when flying into a window. In short, I genuinely think we create more problems for the RSPCA than they create for themselves given the system they use.

[djackso]

Originally Posted by Nightranger

A telephone operative does not need to mention cats (did this really happen?

Yes, unfortunately. The advice was to leave the injured bird outside, and when it was mentioned that the cats would get it, the operator agreed. They were pretty cold about it.

These days I am much more realistic in my expectations of them, though.