Last night a cat had been found in the road run over but still alive. The RSPCA was phoned and they said they wouldnot come out to it. The cat was there a long time till some kind person took it to vets which it later died. It was very late at night so Im sure this stranger to the cat is out of pocket. I knew nothing of this till it was all over.
How can they call themselves a charity time after time after time the only thing I find with them is disapointment. What annoys me is you see all these programes on tv making out theyd do anything at all to save an animal, cutting through walls and drains etc. When infact in all honesty they just give a dam.
Just intrested do you thing theyre a charity or out to make money.
Anyway Im going to write a letter of complaint to them see what they have to say.

sounds about right,sadley. :(

Shocking! I phoned the Police back in September, as a stray dog who looked like he had been hit was wondering around country lanes. I was unable to stop as it was a single track lane. The Police were out to me within half an hour. I have to say the first phone call I made was to the RSPCA, but they were closed?????

I doubt the stranger would have been out of pocket, a vet has to treat an animal in pain whether there is someone there to pay them or not (well thats what my vet told me :) )

As for the RSPCA - I agree, if it isnt 9 - 5 they dont want to know.  I found a ferret whilst camping in the new forest, it was a Sunday at about 4pm so we took it to the local RSPCA centre which was shut, phoned their emergency number and they said unless we could hang on to it until someone could collect it (possibly the next day) then we would have to just let it go   We obviously had no where in a tent to put it, and it was covered in fleas and ticks so we took it to a nearby vets who were fantastic :)

I have taken injured wildlife into my vets and never been charged.  I don't think the RSPCA are perfect but I do feel that as a charity they should only be used when a "rescue" is beyond the means of the average person ie a trapped animal.  Was the first person who phoned them not capable of getting the cat to a vet or finding someone nearby who could.  Our inspectors cover a large area and are based about 50 minutes away to start with so I would never think of waiting for them, even if they could attend, if there was something I could do myself.

we have found the PDSA to be just the same - there is one just down the road from my parenst and the vets is a lot further away and they dont drive. Even if you have a really sick animal and need their help and offer to pay full costs they tell you to get lost - i know they are for people on benefits and cant take in every dog / cat etc but if you animal is really ill and you are offering to pay full price , given they are always begging for money you would think they would help

I now wont give a penny to the PDSA since they obviously dont need the money in the first place and they would rather let an animal die than help and get the money they are always pleading that they need

Sad, but I'm not surprised, typical of them.
Dawn.

I have completely lost faith in RSPCA the reasons too many to write down but let there be a high profile case which makes the Telly then they are there like a flash.
some years ago I was asked to take in two older labradors the poor girls owner had died and they had rung RSPCA but they wouldnt take them,when I went to collect them I was met by a relative who was disgusted as the Old Lady who died had left the house and entire estate to RSPCA and they wouldnt even take her dogs !
The big charities tend to be run like businesses.
I am however very impressed with Dogs trust and there great efforts on the nuetering programme they help us by providing vouchers so every labrador homed by us can be nuetered whereas our small funds would be swallowed up with the cost involved.

She left everything to the RSPCA so they took all she had but not her dogs thats terrible. So I take it you took in the dogs.

Yes Sharon we did

The PDSA are bound by their rules that now state you have to be on benefits after they were rooked so badly in the 70's by rich people using them  giving a measly donation of under a pound, they will treat stray or wild animals as ALL vets who are members of the BVA are bound by their oath to treat free of charge wild animals & those with no owners. I know our local PDSA do this as do my GP vets. One of the vets at the PDSA spent their own holidays with the local Zoo vet(who also does a lot of wildlife work) to get some ideas of the things she might come across & even got herself licenced to handle bats !

As for the Dogs Trust all the kennels I have dealt with never have room for any new dogs & refer people with GSD X breeds to our GSD rescue kennels as in their words"if it is a GSD or a X GSD it's their job"They are very willing to accept money tho'

As for the RSPCA well I found ringed pidgeons in a derelict house in a bedroom(don't ask what I was doing there)I rang the RSPCA as there was no food or water & they looked in terrible condition. Their reaction was nothing doing the owner obviously wants to keep them this way<sigh>So I rang a friend who has racing pigeons & he came & fed, watered & the captured them. A look under their wings produced no address stamp so he checked the ring numbers & he found out that they had been stolen a year before & returned them to the rightful owners. He told me they were on the verge of dying do if I had left it with the RSPCA they would have died. When I rang to complain the RSPCA denied ever receiving my first call !

mattie couldn't leave a dog if she tried! ;)

Must say, My faviour dog charity I would say is dogs trust.  our local dogs trust run a companion show every year, it is run by people who don't show but they do a really good job.  Then one year they found judges from our family, naturaly we helped with spredding out fliers at open and champ shows and also at local ringcrafts and vets/ petshops.  They had a recored entry that year made a bomb, and that was afew years ago, since then we always get phone calls to help get judges and we always steward or generaly help out and advertise.  I know it's not much but we help a little bit, and the ladies who run it are ever so grateful and produce the most wonderful lunch for us all!  The turn out is now always suberb with pedigree classes often over the 30s!

Also judge for the RSPCA once, the show was no-where near as nice :(

i personally wouldnt take any animal to the rspca! i mite be wrong but arnt they the 1ns that put an animal down if it isnt adopted by a certon time? i cant believe they refused to come out to the cat.after all it is there job. if we didnt do our jobs wed get sacked!

Thats just what Ive always thought tommielfc Surely by now the RSPCA should have been looked into. They are making false claims.

Its not really a job in the sense that they work for a Government Department, tommielfc, they are a charity so we can only request they do something.  They will be beholden to the Charities Commission though and it may be that as they are spending other peoples monies that they are restricted from doing what any Tom, Dick or Harry can do, like get a cat to the vets.  What reason did they give for not attending SharonB?  Maybe it's because I am a Libran but I always feel I want to hear the otherside of things when I hear these accounts :)

Lat year I found an injured Sparrowhawk in my cul-de-sac after dark.   Knowing if I left her there a cat/dog/person/car might get her I picked her up and put her in the cat carrier.  Phoned the SSPCA & I was told that someone would be out to collect her.     Whilst waiting for an inspector, I took another phone call, whilst I was on the phone, the inspector left a message saying they'd collect her the next morning.  I phoned back and gave them an earful...needless to say they didn't change their tune.

The next morning I phoned the Scottish Raptor Centre who were delighted to take her and I wasn't phoned by the SSPCA until nearer 11am!

If you had already managed the rescue and got it into a carrier what was stopping you taking it to a vet, it would have been looked after there and they would have arranged sanctuary for it if it could not be directly released.  Fair enough if you have no transport, can't get hold of any or can't afford the petol but the RSPCA are a charity using other peoples monies so I don't feel we should be calling on them to provide something we can afford to do ourselves.

I agree the RSPCA are a charity, hence their, million odd pound newly built head office.

You wouldn't get much of a office building for less than a million these days Emma :).  Oxfam and Shelter all spend money on offices to meet their needs but I wouldn't expect them house or clothe me when I am perfectly capable of affording it myself.

Well I myself am a Libran. Dont know what reason they gave I was just told. I do have 1st hand experience in a few cases. I knew of a rabbit not being cared for at all, not fed and living in maggots. When I phoned them they said as it was in maggots it was down to the enviromental health. In my view it was neglect and cruelty to an animal.
I know someone who used to help out there and finished cause she told me their main concern was not for the welfare of animals.
Also the post from Mattie says it all for me. They were quite happy to take this womans money but wouldnt take care of her dogs that absolutely disgusts me. Anyway bet they ended up better cared for elsewhere.

Did the person who phoned them say why they did not take the cat to the vets themselves?
As I say, I don't think the RSPCA are perfect but I do think in this case it wasn't really down to them.

it would be interesting to hear how much of each pound donated is spent directly on the animals????? Any ideas????

Isabel,

If you look in my phone book...it roughly states 'Injured or found birds phone SSPCA'..which I did.   I do have transport but the whole point is I found the bird on a Saturday evening, the SSPCA is there for the welfare of all animals & birds.  I wanted a bit of advice & maybe their help when I phoned.  As it turned out the bird had a bad break in her wing, the SSPCA told me that they would only come out if they thought she would die that night!

If it had been 100+ young Labradors looking for homes, they'd have probably been here in droves!

I wonder how many staff they employ on a Saturday evening to cover your area.  If the bird was off the road things weren't going to any worse for it were they, so I do feel it was quite reasonable to leave it overnight, I'm sure the vet would do that anyway.  Why didn't you drop it off to the vet yourself?
I think rescue large numbers of dogs takes lots of organising I doubt very much that could be done immediately either.

Do u know how much it costs to take a cat to vets at night. I dont know who called the RSPCA up it was my friend who told her child saw it happen and the childs parent called the RSPCA. It was after RSPCA refused to come out to the cat a kind passer by took the cat. As I say you see all these programes but they never tell you the amount of cases they simply refuse to attend. They shouldnot advertise themselves falsly. I have never heared a good story about them.

As several people have pointed out, vets do not charge the person bringing in an injured stray animal. 

Isabel, i do not feel it is the general publics responsability to be rescuing these animals, yes some of us would do what we could to help but that choice is down to the individuals, the rspca and other charities are there to do a service and you can't expect the general public to take responsibilty for the animals.

Why not? The RSPCA are a charity not a service provided by our taxes like the fire brigade.  In my opinion we donate money to them to do things on our behalf that you cannot do like climb a thirty foot tree or wade through a pond but I think we are all as responsible for the care of animals as we are asking them to be on our behalf so if I can do something myself why wouldn't I?  I'm out of pocket whether I do it or donate to a charity to do it.  Despite what people say I doubt they have limitless numbers of staff why bother them for the little things we can all do? but I guess not everyone sees it the same :)

When I found a yorkie on the side of the road that looked like it had been hit by a car I took him to the vets.

They would not treat it for 24hrs or untill the owner was found (They would give it pain relief) unless I signed somthing stating I would pay the bill :-(

I phoned my mum who signed the form - she has more money than me - lol.

Luckly the ower contacted them, his wife had died the week before & the yorkie keeps getting out to look for her.

The yorkie had not been hit but had a hip replacment yrs ago & limped badly.

I dont know if it would have been the same for wildlife?

Jo
xxx

An SSPCA officer actually lives in the same village I do, Isabel.  One phonecall would've been all it took!

I would not leave any injured animal/bird by the roadside overnight, what a cruel thing to do when it can't defend itself.

Well theyve changed then since I last knew. I know a lad of 15 took a cat in whod been hit by a car and they charged him £45 to have the cat PTS. iTs a few years ago but I still thought theyd charge. So will they open their practice at midnight and not charge a penny.

I have taken stray animals in myself, they have never charged, they are obliged to assist all suffering animals and have to provide 24 hour cover, although that may mean going to a neighbouring vet, which I would be happy to do as I think it is the responsibility of all of us to help prevent suffering if we are physically or financially able to, not just vets and charities.

The inspector on duty may not be the one in your village I doubt they work 24 hours and if he was on duty he may well have been occupied elsewhere.
I did not suggest you would have left it on the road I asked whether you could have taken it along to the vet yourself having already got it into a carrier.

Yes I fully agree with you it is the responsability of us all to care for animals but the point is the RSPCA advertise this all the time and my experience they dont give a dam. Thanks for info about the vets treating stray animals for free Il bare that in mind.

Four years ago My husband and I were walking our dogs along the Canal it was 17.30hrs and we found a cat that had been knocked over and badly hurt, we picked it up in my husbands jacket, knowing the local vet was closed we took it to the RSPCA Radcliffe on Trent and was told by two officers there who were just getting into their vans that they were closed and to take it to the local vet, we explained the local vet (3 miles away) was closed so was informed we must take it to the next nearest one who was 5 miles away, I asked if they could do it and they both in unison said 'no were off duty now'  I have not helped the RSPCA since, we had to pay the vet who had to put the poor cat down he only charged for the injection not for the work he did on it before hand.  RSPCA no thanks
Maya

Thats just the case Maya, IF they were animal lovers then surely they could have took a bit of time as you and your husband did. Nah I will never support the RSPCA again. Most people are getting wise and know exactly how they work.

But why is it better to spend other peoples money doing what you could afford to do?

I certainly can't afford to pay for extra veterinary bills on top of the ones my own animals cost me.   I think the point of the RSPCA/SSPCA is that they are a body who promte themselves as being for there for the welfare of all animals.    I think we are finding from this board that they are not.

They have chosen to spend a large amount of their cash donations over the past few years publically highlighting a docking ban/hunting ban etc.  How many people who donated to their cause wished for their money to be used towards advertising?     

In my experience vets don't charge, but perhaps I don't look like I can afford it:)  But if you can't afford to take the animal there yourself, fair enough that is what charities are for, but in my book to don't ask them to do what you are capable of doing yourself.
I agree there is a lot of stuff wrong with the RSPCA and I don't like their political campaigns either but I always see them as a body, that we give money to, to do all the things we cannot do ourselves to prevent suffering such as difficult rescues, cruelty prosecutions etc I have never seen them as a ambulance service or a donor (with other peoples monies) of vets fees.

<<<<<I agree there is a lot of stuff wrong with the RSPCA>>>>>

Thing is, there shouldn't be A LOT of wrong stuff with the RSPCA, the odd hiccup once in a while maybe but they have jumped onto the political bandwagon using donations on huge advertising campaigns time after time.

We on this board are only a small percentage of people who have come into contact with the RSPCA/SSPCA and we have a fair amount of complaints, if we go out into the big wide world how high would that percentage rise?

I did not mind paying for the injection (not that I can afford it) but it was the principle up til that time I had made a yearly donation to the RSPCA I now give it to the Dogs Protection League.  I do not even like the RSPCA  I gave my name and number to them asking if any of my breed came in could they inform me and I would arrange to have it picked up and re homed (with their approval) or back with its owner  they had never seen one and did not know what one looked like, I took my three down and they thought they were mongrels (3 SCWT's in show trim going to Crufts within 3 days?)  that was 2 years ago and I have never heard from them since I contacted them two weeks ago  to update my details and they had 'lost' my name and details I give up, maybe it was time for a tea break?

Maya

Because we are not an animal charity that raises money for just such circumstances, and we cant all afford to pay for all the ill and neglected animals we come accross in every day life.  I do my best, but I will not support THAT charity for no one :(  in answer to Isabels post  about using other peoples money

I did say it was reasonable to ask a charity to do something if you can't afford to do it yourself.

When I found a cat that had been knocked over and had its back broken I took it to our vet who put it to sleep and didn't charge me a penny. (She also scanned it to see if it was chipped but nothing showed up.)

I called the RSPCA several years ago to come to the rescue of two cats who had had kittens in a disused greenhouse in an abandoned property backing onto my garden.  They said that they would be unable to help.

The cats protection league came to the rescue.  Soon after I called again to report a bird stuck in the chimney of the office where I worked at the time.  They were unable to help again.

They lost my vote quite quickly after that.

As any1 here had a good experience with them?

Nope!!!!

They have become an entirely political group, whose only concern is money. (Have a look at charities commision to see how much money they are sitting on!!!!:-0 ).

Whilst running kennels in London there were a number of issues we "attempted" to involve the RSPCA in, but again there was always a reason why they couldn't!

With them now trying to pass a law to enter private property without permission, their targets will again be only the high profile cases!

Sorry i get sooo angry just thinking about them, and all their political stances (eg they were behind the original Dangerous Dog Act, but when the public reacted against it, they changed tactics immediately!).

With their heart rending adverts, were i not "in the know" i would be leaving everything to them!

My friend found an owl sitting at the side of  a country road at three o'clock one afternoon.  As she had four dogs in her car she could not take it with her. She phoned SSPCA who said they would send someone out and got directions to where it was.

She moved it onto the verge and had to leave it there.

She got a phone call at eleven o'clock that night from the SSPCA guy who was at the spot but surprise surprise he could not find the bird as it was dark and could she give him more specific directions as to where she left it.

I have known the RSPCA to refuse to come out to a RTA on 2 occasions when a dog lay injured at the side of the road but when I phoned them about a very tiny not familiar to me healthy baby  bird they were there within the hour to pick it up. dosen`t make sense does it when they are supposed to prevent suffering. I no longer donate to them because of this very reason