http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...cut-costs.html I must first say I am not a fan of them so I may be being unfair but isn't this very unfair on small rescues who do not have the vast amounts of money the RSPCA have ?

Of course it is, but the RSPCA has been dumping on smaller charities for decades. In our area they would never take any action on feral cats, so it was our charity which did most of the local trapping and neutering. This is just yet another example. They are happy to plaster themselves over daytime tv on Animal 24/7 but when their high profile means people take in unwanted pets they don't want to know.

The charity said that in the past a cat has been dumped because "it did not match the couch", dogs were rejected for "barking" or "hiding shoes" and a chinchilla was brought in because the owner "did not realise it could live for 20 years".

Well yeh, people are dumb - but returning the animal to live with that type of owner with 'care advice' is not really in the animal's best welfare interests is it?

No that was my thoughts on the statement too.

The RSPCA have been doing this for years anyway. My dog was taken to the shelter we got him from after the RSPCA refused to take him. Half the time when people phone the one near me they don't want to know. Small local rescue charities do far more good than the RSPCA.


It's amazing the cases they seem to care about on Animal 24/7 - you just know that if the BBC weren't there filming they wouldn't even attend half of them.

i.m so proud of their scottish equivalent. They are amazing and DO come out for anything from baby birds to injured mice to feral cats. Checkout animal planet. Theres a series on there about them.

This is only in the last few years after a clean up following some very bad publicity.

And I've had them refuse to come out to injured birds ( I used Hesselhead instead) and an abandoned (very young) kitten as it was a bank holiday. I contacted the Cats Protection League who couldn't do enough to help. They couldn't take it immediately as they had no spaces locally and asked if I could keep it for five days. They gave me food, flea treatments and dishes etc to use til they could come.

i can honestly say in the last 20 years that i.ve been calling them out they've came out every time. I.ve just had to phone them a little while ago because one of my neighbours has set up a trap to catch birds in the garden.

I dont have much experience of the RSPCA but have heard many bad things. As another person said, im all for The Cats Protection League!

I do work for several animal rescues and they have cleaning up behind the RSPCA for years.

Up here, our local SPCA won't take pets if they can help it (plus you have to pay for the privilege of them taking it...) and say they'll only help injured animals. They won't even take strays that people have reported because the people who report it usually say things like "after it had been hanging around for months, I decided to give it a meal because it's so malnourished" and the SPCA have turned around and went "you fed it, so you've taken on responsibility for it..."

The amount of crap the cat charity I work for has to put up with because this SPCA won't help is incredible...

Don't think much of the RSPCA at all. Had a bad experience with some stray kittens they wouldn't collect years ago. Took them to the local Cats Protection and they were soon rehomed together. Brilliant!

Agree about the RSPCA. A fews years ago I found a dead cat by the kerb just a few yards from where I work. I put it in the grass verge to save it getting squashed and in the hope that it's owner may go looking for it. I then phone the local RSPCA centre ( which is not that far away) to ask if anyone had reported a missing cat.

The person who answered, said no, and to just put it in a dustbin!!! I was staggered, and told her that perhaps the cat was chipped therefore the owners might like to know the fate of their pet, their reply was not helpful.

In my lunch break I went and took the dead cat to the centre and asked for the Manager and told him about my conversation with one of his staff earlier that morning. He did look very embarrassed and did check if the cat was chipped, it was not, I said that I would post notices locally about the cat and asked him to keep the cat for a few hours before disposing of it He assured me that he would keep the cat for 24 hours, in case anyone enquired.

Within a couple of hours of displaying the notices locally someone rang and it seemed it was theirs, and that her two daughters had been very upset about her going missing. At least they knew where she was, and could grieve for their cat.

The CPL and the Blue Cross are far superior to the RSPCA in every respect. The RSPCA are only good when the TV cameras are on them

glad im not them only one whos had RSPCA problems.Some months ago i discovered 2 dogs wandering in amongst the traffic,we bundled them into my mates car and brought them here.

I then phoned the RSPCA whos reply was "its Saturday",i told them i knew well what day it was but the dogs were friendly,had been well looked after and might be chipped.More to the point siomeone might be frantically searching for them.All he said was call the dog warden out.

Said dog warden came out and they had chips and were returned to their home about a mile away.The owner rang me when shed got dogs back to thank me she had let them out and a loose back gate theyd wandered off.

RSPCA couldnt have given a ****

I'm not impressed by the level of knowledge some RSPCA people have about animals. A few years ago, they came out to check on one of our horses. My parents had been having a few problems with one of their neighbours so he called them to say that the horses were neglected and not looked after. We didn't know anyone had been till we found our ancient pony wandering around without her rug on on a very cold february day. He'd taken it off as he said she didn't need it Yes thats right, a 39 year old pony who doesn't keep much weight on doesn't need extra protection against the elements!

Fortunately, she's well known at the local vets who we directed him to to prove that she is looked after and for her age is quite healthy.

Wasn't really bothered that he came out- it was the fact that he'd changed her routine and left her cold that annoyed.

am well annoyed with rspca

my mother in law mistreats animals and has a really dirty house, she has 2 large dogs,1 small dog, 1 cat, 3 rats, 2 hamsters, 2 rabbits, 1 guinea pig and no amount of visits from rspca has amounted in the situation being sorted. yet sum1 says we left our dogs and kittens all alone for periods of time which we would never as a animal lover we would never do. they had police round to confiscate my animals. They are barking up the wrong tree, why are they using time/money on sumones spitefull report when they not even bothered to investigate real serious animal cruelty,

sorry rspca rant over lol

this is happening my neighbours since having a baby has kicked their puppy out into the garden and is just forgotten, even though it does have food and water its so sad . they took it to the rspca and was turned away they have tried to find it another home but cant find anyone to take it.in the meantime this poor dog is being neglected another dog might be in danger.
as much it has made my blood boil and put me off my neigbour we have to remember the rspca is a charity and they are struggling like everyone else, everyone complains about the rspca but how many people actually try to help them raise funds.

I am sorry I think most animal charities would be jumping for joy with £170m in the bank. Struggling they are not !

The RSPCA is acknowledged to be a very very rich charity so I wouldn't worry about them being short of funds. One estimate reckoned they had £170m in the bank last year. But it's a question of what they do with the money.

I donate to smaller animal charities, no way would I add to the RSPCAs funds.

(lol, our posts crossed molliepops)

Someone I know did some building work for them and months later, he still hadn't been paid. (Making a luxury cattery where the cats had 'rooms')

There was also this recent case which showed them in a very bad light:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2584528.ece

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/n...re/7028070.stm

They really, truly don't need your money.