Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have been donating money every month to the RSPCA since I was at college. It started at £3 gradually increasing (with every begging letter) to £10 a month. I know this isn't a huge amount, but it is equivalent to a years tax for my car. Anyway, that's not the problem, what worries me is the increasing number of stories I've been hearing about the organisation - about the number of animals they unnecessarily destroy and the condtions they are kept in. Has anybody heard anything similar? I thought I was supporting a good cause but now I'm not so sure.

I don't want to leave myself open to millions of begging letters as I am a bit of a soft touch (esp where animals are concerned), but I just wondered if anyone else had heard these stories or knew of something similar I could put my money into? I have thought about volunteering at my local Cats Protection but we're in the process of moving so I don't have the time at the mo, but will look into it in a month or so. Is volunteering better than donating? and if I stop my RSPCA donations how will I cope with the guilt?!!!!!

Claire, type RSPCA into the search facility in the top right hand corner of the forum page and you will gain access to hundreds of threads on this subject.

Have looked at the RSPCA threads but there's millions of em. Was thinking of the Blue Cross but how do I get the RSPCA off my back without feeling guilty? They used to write to me twice - in my married and maiden names and I had to ring them to get them off my back.

I also couldn't see anywhere what people thought about volunteering rather than donating? I don't believe there's any dogs homes near me so that's why I thought of the Cats Protection as I love them both.

There are millions of threads because they are *generally* not well thought of here :( This is for a variety of reasons....

You should be able to call them and ask for your name to be removed from the mailing list ..also I think there are preferences places for mail and phone so you can stop receiving junk mail and calls ..someone will have the contact details for those I am sure ;)

I would suggest you stop donating to the RSPCA. Put it in writing and sum up your concerns and the reasons for cancelling your donation. If you then get a satisfactory response then you cna make an informed decision. You could always support a smaller organisation, a local rescue kennels (assuming they are a good one) and/or you could donate and offer to help with your chosen breed rescue :) HTH

Thanks for your help, I think that's a really good idea about writing to them. I'm sure I won;t get a response though - just another begging letter!

You will get a load of pre-printed propaganda - which won't answer your questions. We all know what the RSPCA are supposed to do - so why keep advertising and printing leaflets - why not spend the money on more inspectors? The point in writing is that they won't answer your concerns, so you can put it to bed and redirect your donation elsewhere :)

You could always do a search on the Forum about the RSPCA ;) :D

Echo? :D

Great minds.......

:D

Great Minds surely:D

EEEEEEEEEEEK!

And again!

STOPPIT!

If you paymants are being made via direct debit, cancel it and then the rspca will contact you too say they could get you monthly payment, and request banking information, of which you could reply that you no longer want to donate to the charity.

sorry Mel I cant help being telepathetic or empathic or telepathick or ...beam me back to my Homeworld, please:D

Hi,

If you want to donate to somewhere because of the reputation the RSPCA has and no surprise there!!!!! how about hearing dogs or assistance dogs, they are both excellant charities who need loads of help.

manda
x

There is a piece somewhere that I have just read about RSPCA Officers striking ( or as near to striking as possible ) . Has anyone else read it ?
By the way with al the money they recieve in donations WHY do they put perfectly healthy animals to sleep .
The rescue centre I check for has a no destruction policy and no animal is rehomed until it is perfectly well and healthy . Every animal is also neutered ( if it is old enough ) and microchipped with the centres details . Then if the animal becomes lost or escapes it goes back to the rescue centre . This centre lives hand to mouth so if they manage (just) why cant the RSPCA???
Or are they only interested in making a profit ??

Blimey, just put their letters in the bin....its not difficult....I do it all the time!

You are right again Lel Mick

I have had so much disapointment with the RSPCA I would need a book to fill in but my main grievence is this these big charities start off by asking you for just £3 a month or £2 a month and you will think well thats ok Ill join the scheme then they wont let go they are writing all the time and someone is paid to target you its a business, my mother in law is 87 and she gets bombarded with this stuff and gets really upset.If you speak to the individual RSPCA shelters they dont get funding from the main Headquarters they have to raise their own and lots of them have had to close when there are millions in the manin coffers its so unfair that some dedicated staff at local shelters work their socks off while the top bobs ride around in fancy cars etc...Also did you know if you left money in your will and DONT specify its to go to the local centre it will go in the main coffers so beware of that please.
I like to support the salvation army they are great they help young and old alike and have a re uniting scheme for lost relatives they are well worth supporting and if you send them a few pounds they send you a lovely letter and at christmas they send you a card and ask you to write it out to someone who doesnt have a family its a lovely thing to do.and they distribute them to homeless etc..

Last week I had to pick up a lab for wigan social services and when i got there I was taking to the social workers and putting the dog in my car when another lady turned up she was a social worker she had in a box two tiny kittens one had a massive chunk out of the back of its neck they were in a right state she had actually just come back from RSPCA vet and they had sent them away with antibiotics both were dehydrated so The poor woman had no where for the kittens and the rspca said they had no room ! I took thym straight to our vets who put them both on a drip .:(

Without going into too much detail I have a bit of an animal backround, I studied animal science and wanted to join the inspectorate for the RSPCA. To help my chances I volunteered at my local veterinary hospital for a number of years as my experiences were mainly with exotics. When I felt I had enough experience of companion animals I applied for the RSPCA. I passed regional interviews and made it to final selection at the headquarters in Horsham. You would not believe my dissapointment! I was looked down upon and patronised. My size was questioned (5' 5") in respect to "could I lift a dog" my experience was questioned - you could not put voluntary experience on the application so I only had my zoo experience on paper, I tried to convince them that I have worked with dogs and cats for many years but they were not interested - probably because I had no experience of the armed forces! There was no animal welfare ethos, it was all about how big and scary you are, no-one else being interviewed that day had an animal backround. :( - I have also experienced the other side of them, by taking on exotics that had been conviscated by inspectors who thought they were not being kept properly when in actual fact they were and the RSPCA were responsible for taking them from a perfectly reasonable home! They know nothing about animals only how to wind people up. Any charity that pay's their chief exec. £100,000 a year is not getting a penny from me. Stick to a local charity or at least one thats not so big that your £10 a month only contributes to their admin fee's.
Sarah.
P.S. I'm not bitter :)

Whilst the RSPCA is making redundancies to save money a vacancy has been posted under Charity Recruitment on 12th Sept. this year for a Head of Human Resources, salary of £60,000 per annum in the South East of England,. This position is to provide a range of HR services to empower RSPCA staff to work to maximum effectiveness to prevent cruelty and promote good practice in animal welfare throughout England, Wales and internationality. The applicant must be an outstanding HR strategist with visionary leadership and empathy and sound judgement to foster positive relationships throughout the RSPCA (ref. 176406). Is this their idea of making cutbacks?

I am not trying to say that I disagree with what people say but to attract the best people for 'Headoffice' jobs in charities they need to be paid the market place rate for salaries. If they didn't there would be the same if a lot more money going right down the drain.This job was as a vacancy and wouldn't have been I would have thought a new position :) I maybe wrong !

Not saying they would attract the right people who care but both my husband and myself are in Managerial postions and both are very much animal lovers and would love to get a job in this sort of charity as we would both do our upmost to start trying to make a difference ! I think that is where the problem lies. Not the salaries they are paying but the people they are employing :)

Lucy

I would have to say that that is a conservative salary for a Head of HR in that area...

Edit - thats not to say I agree with it!!

if i were you i would stop donating to the rspca. and donate money to a non-government funded dog shelter with a non euthanasia policy, these shelters need the money far more than the rspca *grumble*

Elise + Moogi & Satine.

Thanks everyone for your advice, I will today be calling my bank to cancel the direct debit. I've also been doing some reseach into more 'worthy' local causes such just have the heartbreak of choosing one to contribute to!

Also looking into doing some volunteer work aswell. Thanks Again.

In the past I have contacted the RSPCA three times over Animals in distress, one was a Dane that was kept on a chain in a garden and abused on a daily basis. They visisted ad did nothing becuase there was food and water. In the end it was secretly arranged to take this dog and he was rehomed to a loving family. The second was an injured baby woodpecker, they had no inspector available so we caught it and took it to a bird sanctury and the thrid was a very ill cat found in the hay barn. Again they had no inspectors available and told us to take it to the local vets and have it put down. The cat escaped and ran away, their answer quote "it couldn't have been that ill".

I am also very disappointed with the RSPCA in this country. Also having horses i realise their lack of care extends beyond dogs and i think spending millions on new offices and wasting money on campaigns against fox hunting is ludicrous.

There are lots and lots of tiny charities that dont get millions from the government each year. I would find a good rescue centre local to you so that you know your money is going to good use... not just lining the fat cats sat in plush offices!

I agree with Filbert, find a local rescue centre/animal charity - go and visit and ask exactly what help they need. Once you know what they want, if you have transport you can actually buy a sack of food/whatever they need and take it round there so that 100% of your donation goes to the animals and not into fat cat directors pockets!! Do visit first though, to check it is a genuine and needy place. You could also drum up some local support for them occasionally by fund raising/boot sale. So many kind hearted people bankrupt themselves trying to help abandoned/cruelly treated animals because those "not in the know" just give all their spare money to the RSPCA who have allegedly millions in the bank but still close centres and make inspectors redundant!

does anyone know of a bull mastiff rescue? i typed it into search engine but not one came up, i give 15pound a month to rspca and after reading threads have changed my mind. id like to give it to breed i love but if i cant, will find other good cause.

Have a look at the links on this page [link http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=UK+BullMastiff+Rescue&spell=1] Bullmastiff Rescue[/link]

HTH

Melody :)