Hallo,my daughter has just had a very upsetting visit from an rspca inspector.She has 3 dogs,all collie crosses,,mum ,dad,and their pup,ages 15years,17 years and 12 years respectively.dad and son are pretty fit for their ages,mum is really showing her age.They are all part of the family and loved.They recently moved house and daughters husband has been out of work for 6months.

Someone,who clearly didnt know the pup(12!)was under the vet for a skin problem reported them to the rspca.(he had bald spots,gone now)The inspector called and thoroughly upset my daughter by saying,A,"she doesnt look like she ll last much longer.give me a ring when it happens and Ill take her away for you"about the mum,B,gave her ten days to get a 350/400pound operation done on pups ear(he had it drained twice but it filled up again.  2weeks before, the vet said to leave it if it wasnt bothering him), if not,he d got the power to take him,and all the healthy animals too!(she has cats too)As my daughter said, and what would you do with my elderly dogs!(no prizes for correct answer!)
Anyway,she has since spoken to someone at the rspca and was advised to report him as he was clearly using scare tactics,which she will be doing,and has also been given a number for welfare(Im assuming financial help).Another thing the inspector said, was"youve got to put your children first"(hers are fine!)and went on to say when they had kids they gave their dogs away to friends! yes, well.

No guesses for understanding why I will never donate to the RSPCA ..
If she has seen the vet and they are happy the dogs are well cared for then she has no worries.
My sister was forever being reported when her old old pony was in a starvation paddock for his laminitis. He was thin (Aged 35) and had a very carefully regulated diet. The vets and farrier were treating him and in the end the vet suggested she keep a fly-rug on him (summer time) so no one could see him. He was fine but she had numerous visits from an RSPCA chap who just would not back off. When he finally needed to be PTS and was laying under a tarp waiting to be collected (He was only there overnight as they put him to sleep late one afternoon and he was collected by lunchtime the next day) the bloody man came and insisted she took him into the field to show him that he was really dead. She put in an official complain but got no apology or even a reply for head office.
Aileen

I also wonder if this officer is technically in breach of the law by ordering your daughter to have a procedure done on her dog- he is not a vet and should not be diagnosing or directing treatment. I would definitely report him.

> I also wonder if this officer is technically in breach of the law by ordering your daughter to have a procedure done on her dog- he is not a vet and should not be diagnosing or directing treatment. I would definitely report him.

If he served an "Improvement Notice", then these are informal and not an official order. However according to Trevor Cooper, they achieve 90% compliance, as most of the public don't understand they are not a legal demand.

Someone reported me a couple of years ago for ill treating my 2 dogs, both rescues with health problems when I took them on. The older one has Discoid Lupus Erythematosus which I explained to the inspector but her reply was "never heard of it", the younger one was born with elbow dysplasia and despite being operated on was not 100% on her legs. She was very confrontational from the second I opened the door to her, opening words were "you are ill treating your dogs" yet she refused to enter the house to view their living, sleeping and feeding arrangements and would not look at the file I keep their treatment records in. As she was leaving she told me that one of my ducks had a prolapse - it had an egg in the pouch and was about to lay, and asked "what the hell is that" (it was my guinea fowl. ) Obviously she was a real animal expert!!
I was so upset that I contacted the breed rescue that I had got the dogs from and asked them to do a house visit only to be told there was no need, they had confidence in me and I had been associated with them for a long time. I then took both dogs to the vet to be checked - all was fine.
I still feel sick at how I was treated, and even more sick that someone reported me without knowing any of the facts, they could have asked me what was wrong with them before doing an anonymous report.
In future any inspector will need to have the police accompanying them or a court order before I will allow them on my property.

Unless the law has recently changed,  the RSPCA have no right to enter your property.   Despite them wearing uniforms like the police and behaving like them (impersonating a police officer?  Mjisrepresenting their powers? )

Basic Advice for Pet Owners

My Aunt is surrounded by fields & the one at the front of the house was rented out & for many years to a lady who is well known through out the New forest, leasing the field to keep a number of ponies. Use the word 'keep,' loosely as over the years she's been reported to the RSPCA many times for the state of them, too many, at times no grazing, no extra feeding, laminitis, open wounds, no water & other concerns, after too many complaints she moves them away, to be replaced by another group from yet another field.

Last winter one was obviously suffering, locals had offered to feed, even take to stables at the end of the lane, 'No thank you', & so it went on, RSPCA had been out but still nothing happened until the pony went down in mud (80% of the field mud), RSPCA & local vet called & although by this time the outcome was that the poor pony was so ill it should be put down neither vet or RSPCA would do anything until they could contact the owner, who happened to be overseas. Neighbour still not allowed to take the pony to stabling, so left standing in mud where it collapsed again a little while later & died in driving rain & sub zero temperatures!!

Haven't given to the RSPCA for years.

Lacy that is horrific, they don't seem to care about the animals that really need their help, only about responding to malicious anonymous calls. The trouble is that people make a complaint to the RSPCA as a means of settling scores and getting revenge for completely unrelated matters and get away with it by making the call anonymous. I forgot to mention in my previous post, the inspector asked which Vet I use, and when I told her the name said "No, you must change to ******* (the vet in the next town). I told my vet what had been said, naturally they were furious but thought that it was because they had refused to co-operate with un-founded accusations by RSPCA in the past.  The whole incident was out and out bullying.

Thankyou,all of you,I will show my daughter your posts,I am very grateful to you,shes clearly not alone.How awful is it,so many animals let down,and loving owners upset and threatened.

My Aunt's large sitting room picture window over looks the field, water trough just yards away, at 101 she wept at not being able to do anything.

Pam I am sorry that must be so awful for your daughter and you too. Hope it gets properly sorted out. I would definitely have achat with my vet to get their baking and maybe a call to trevor cooper he is really helpful having spoken to him over a problem I had
 

I too would be furious if I was treated in this manner. Pam, please keep us posted of the outcome. I am sure your daughter is not the first (or sadly the last) person to be treated in this manner by the RSPCA and (all) your posts may help others whom find themselves in this or similar positions.

I also wonder if this officer is technically in breach of the law by ordering your daughter to have a procedure done on her dog- he is not a vet

Its not that long ago an RSPCA officer, who was not a vet, looked through the window of a house, decieded 10 or 12 GSDs had an irreversible skin condition & shot them all with a bolt gun. Skin conditions cannot be conclusivly  diagnosed without a skin test.
.

I know that I am the only one lol,but my daughters visit from the RSPCA was a good one.
She had a young gangly GSD ,someone had reported that he was left in the house for hours whilst she was at work .never walked, underfed etc etc,
When the inspector called ,she invited him in ,he took one look at Brady & laughed, Brady had'ent finished growing was all legs ,with a huge head,
My daughter shared the house with her brother who worked nights ,so when she was at work he was home & vise versa,He was walked before 6 in the morning when he returned from work & after dark by my daughter,also had a large back garden that he had access to all day,Brady never was a overweight dog as a norm & we didnt want extra on him anyway & he was fit as a fiddle ,until cdrm & she lost him at one week short of his 12 th birthday.
Some people really need to get a life ,if they had concerns why not ask first,

I recently had a call at work froman RSPCA inspector, who'd been sent to investigate complaints about the condition of a dog in our village. When I could confirm that the dog was receiving regular treatment at our practice no further action was taken. I found it very reassuring that complaints were followed up in a rational manner.

Years ago we had a field for our horses, and was asked by the local RSPCA officer if we would let them put some rescue Ponies  in it as temporary measure until they could sort out a permanent home. We agreed as these ponies had been badly neglected and thought a few days in our lush grass filled field would be a real tonic for them.

A week later we had a visit from another RSPCA inspector, informing us we had been reported to them for having a field full of skinny neglected ponies and that we faced prosecution for causing Animal suffering!!!

Still waiting for the apology!

It seems to me that the RSPCA go in heavy-handed on cases that really arnt neglect cases, yet dont do anything when an animal is really in need.

I used to live next door to a horrible couple who were well known in the area as drug dealers. They had various dogs coming and going, a staffy bitch that was almost always pregnant then suddenly just vanished, like all their dogs did. They had a rottie then, about 2 years old, and when it was snowing the couple went off for a few days and left the dog locked out in the garden! No shelter, no food, nothing. when I realised he had been out all night that first night I phoned the rspca and they said they didnt have anyone that could come out till the following day. They didnt seem at all bothered that this dog would be spending another night outside. I phoned the dog warden, they didnt want to know, i phoned the police, they didnt want to know. I said to the police that I was going to break in the house then, maybe they would come out then! They said yes, but only to arrest me, the dog wouldnt be their responsibility.

I climbed the fence and my daughter handed me over a fabric fold up crate I had and we put a hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket and loads of blankets in there, fed him, gave him water etc, if I hadnt have had my Tyra who was dog aggressive I would have brought him in my house, I checked him throughout the night, he stayed in the crate all night, bless him. It was a terraced house, mid terrace, so I couldnt even bring the dog out, no back entrance and I couldnt lift a huge rottie over a 6 foot fence, otherwise Id have just taken him to the dogs home, at least he would have been inside!

The next day the rspca came out, they didnt even come into my house to look over the fence at the dog. They put a notice card or something in the letterbox of their house and a bit of tape over the door to see if anyone went in. Someone did go in, a dealer mate of theirs, was in there 2 minutes, didnt even go out the back to see the dog, came out with a carrier bag of something and went again. I phoned the rspca again, and again, they did NOTHING!!

That poor dog stayed outside, well in my crate, for 3 nights, in the snow. All I could do was keep checking him, feed him and reheat the hot water bottle often. So much for the "caring " rspca.

I confronted the couple when they came back, they threatened me and it got very nasty, then I saw the man go out with the rottie, never saw the dog again so god knows what happened to him.

I will never ever donate to the rspca. I complained a few times but no-one ever rang me back, they really were not the least bit interested.

Sounds familiar

You should have told them you had a camera crew standing by.   They'd have knocked you over in the rush to get there ;-) 

i phoned the police, they didnt want to know. I said to the police that I was going to break in the house then, maybe they would come out then! They said yes, but only to arrest me, the dog wouldnt be their responsibility.

But surely if someone is breaking the animal welfare act there breaking the law, in which case it would be the police job to sort out, after all I thought there whole job was to uphold the law.

I think the police rely too much on the rspca after all there ment to be a charity not animal police it shouldn't be there place to prosecute people.

> But surely if someone is breaking the animal welfare act there breaking the law, in which case it would be the police job to sort out, after all I thought there whole job was to uphold the law.

I think the Animal Welfare Act is pretty hard to enforce - and the main enforcers are clearly not doing their job too well.

We had a rescue horse that was have trouble walking, the vet told us that she had an abcess in her foot. He said that he could not cut the foot to drain the abcess until a lot of the infection had gone, so he put her on ABs and checked on her every 2 days. As soon as the infection had gone he opened her foot, drained the abcess, cleaned everything and she was fine wandering around in a special protective boot until it was all healed. However, our charming neighbour reported us to the rspca at the ABs stage while the infection was being treated, they came out and we proved that she was having vet care etc and they were satisfied. This neighbour ( still not satisfied) made the gossip around our village that we had a crippled horse in agony and could not afford to have a vet, so allowed the animal to suffer !

Why she thought we could not afford a vet or why she thought we allowed an animal to suffer I don't know, but of course a village being a village the people prefer to think the worst of people and never believe any denials. So now we are those nasty people that mis treat animals and many people will not even say hello to us, they prefer to ignore 'scum ' like us.

Sometimes rural villages full of hooray henry people are a real pain, but we know that our animals are better looked after that we are. We love our home and fields and woods that are part of our property but hate the horrible people that can spoil country living, so we just keep to ourselves and to hell with them !

Hi,just to let you all know,her dog Bruno had his operation yesterday,and is doing well.she could have apparently had treatment at the pdsa,being  on benefits at the moment,but its miles away,two bus rides,so she took the easier option and borrowed my credit card!Thankyou everyone for all your replies,there are some awful stories among them.I havent asked yet if she did put a complaint in,no doubt the inspector will be back as he gave her to the end of the month.Thanks again everyone.

This is horrendous. I have also had ructions with the RSPCA when I was living in England.

A builder who was working on our house (it was rented) was unreliable and inconsiderate, he would turn up, leave all doors open and then disappear, what should have taken him 1 week to do, finally took him 2 months! I complained to the Landlord who obviously had a word with him. He was well known in the area for being spiteful.

The next thing I know, RSPCA come banging on my door at 8.00 one morning. They'd had a complain that I was starving and beating my GSD's!!! Words failed me. They were rude and unprofessional. I let them enter the front porch of my house so that they could see my 2 dogs. Immediately they went into a rant about how they have to follow up every single complaint and that on this occasion there was nothing to worry about as the dogs were clearly looked after and not showing any signs of abuse. I took them to task on the phrase "on this occasion" informing them that the only thing I had ever had to do with them was helping out at a fund raising event the year before to help them! I was absolutely furious.

I put a complaint in and somebody did actually come out to see me to apologise. I had threatened to go to the local paper if they did nothing.

Colliepam, when or if the inspector comes back to see your Daughter, she should not have any dialogue with them at all and just pass on the vet who did the op's details and tell them to follow up with the vet. A lot of vets that I have and do know have very little time for these officious people!

Colliepam,

Please give your daughter the link I provided.   These people have NO Legal RIGHT to enter property, and no legal right to remove animals without a warrant, and being 'helpful' with them can backfire badly :(  
In your daughter's place, I would make a formal complaint about the behaviour of the officer, and yes, a threat of the local papers if nothing is done. 

RSPCA? - Basic Advice for Pet Owners

thankyou,ive just read the link and i am amazed!There I was,once ,thinking the rspca were good people that helped animals! My daughter will be coming here in a day or two and I will show her all these posts so she can be armed when the inspector next appears.I am very grateful,thankyou.

> thankyou,ive just read the link and i am amazed!

There is also the fact that their "warnings" aka Improvement Notices aren't legally enforceable. Trevor Copper is your man if you want to check.

I have had nothing but bad experiences with the RSPCA

About 5 years ago my wee terrier was diagnosed with diabetes and all the standard treatment of canine insulin didn't work for him. As a result he lost a significant amount of weight and he was nothing but skin and bone.
I was reported to them for him being so underweight which I was completely fine about as he really was in awful condition. He was under the vet care of a specialist at the nearest vet school at the time costing me a fortune but totally worth every penny.
When the inspector came to my house I had over 45kg of prescription dog food in the hall he had to pass on his way in costing me over £100 and despite giving him both the local vet and specialist vets contact details and explaining Alfie's condition I was issued with an improvement notice.
There was no way on this earth I could get weight on him in the time frame given. He came back and threatened me with removing Alfie from me as I apparently hadn't complied. The stress was unreal. My dog was so unwell and I was doing everything possible to get him better and they were trying to take him off me!
Eventually both my vets wrote to the RSPCA to complain about the way we were being treated.
If they hadn't I dread to think what would have happened.

I reported a woman a year or so ago who had a 5 week old pup and insisted in feeding it nothing but chips every second day. 4 weeks later they finally got round to following up on my complaint but which time to poor pup had died.

They spent weeks harnessing me about my unwell but very well cared for dog but done nothing for that poor pup.
It really says a lot about them.
I will never trust them to do anything ever again.
Thankfully Alfie's diabetes is now controlled with human insulin and he has put on weight but it still upsets me to think about it.

From my notes at recent Trevor Cooper seminar -
"Improvement Notices" are 'advisory' and 'informal' - but the RSPCA achieve 90% compliance with them because people believe they are legally binding....
i.e. scare tactics that take advantage of people's naivety.

thankyou,i will keep that in mind!

> "Improvement Notices" are 'advisory' and 'informal' - but the RSPCA achieve 90% compliance with them because people believe they are legally binding....

If the improvement notices are not legally binding what about the other things they do and say? What powers do the RSPCA actually have? Are they legally allowed to seize pets that arent being kept to their standard?

>Are they legally allowed to seize pets that arent being kept to their standard?

It's not 'their' standard, it's whether or not they're being kept as the law specifies.

>> Are they legally allowed to seize pets that arent being kept to their standard?
> It's not 'their' standard, it's whether or not they're being kept as the law specifies.

OK sorry. If the improvement notices are not legally enforceable do the RSPCA have legal powers to seize animals that are not being kept in accordance to the law?

Pretty certain the RSPCA have no powers to seize animals unless they have police with them, and if you watch the TV programmes, they tend to bully people into signing the animal over. I found this page, although I don't know how factually correct it is or not:
http://the-shg.org/index.htm

I've always been under the impression they have no more right to enter a property or seize an animal than you or I.

NO right to enter unless there supporting the police.
NOpower to seize unless as above.
They work by aping police uniform and titles, bullying and taking advantage of people's (v understandable) lack of legal knowledge.

Wouldnt it be nice-or fitting-if someone took them to court .or has it been tried/done?Seems like they have an awful lot to answer for.My daughter-who has made a complaint against the inspector,Ive found out-heard theyre saying their shelters are overflowing with cats to rehome,well if its their policy to take peoples healthy pets,as my daughter was told,thats not surprising!

>My daughter-who has made a complaint against the inspector,Ive found out-heard theyre saying their shelters are overflowing >with cats to rehome,well if its their policy to take peoples healthy pets,as my daughter was told,thats not surprising!

Was this related to her when she made the complaint?    If so, it's completely irrelevant to the complaint she has made!     Which makes you wonder just what their agenda is and whether they were even taking in what they have been told about their inspector?   In that context, it sounds like distraction techniques  :-(

Good for your daughter  making the complaint.   I hope it was in writing -  that way there is a paper trail, should they decide to ever come back ;-)