Inspectorate group reports for 2010

Fox cub stuck in netting

I've just this morning received the inspectorate report for the Cambridgeshire branches group.

E2 ANNUAL REPORT 2010

CASES OF INTEREST

Three men from Peterborough were banned from keeping horses for 5 years after 5 horses they owned were found living on land deemed unsuitable, poor feed and no water made available. Two of the horses were emaciated. The RSPCA arranged care and treatment for the horses and are still looking to secure them good homes.

A man from Cambridge was banned from keeping all animals for 10 years for causing his dog suffering by failing to feed it properly. It was found in an emaciated state. He was also ordered to pay the society costs of £600 and ordered to complete 40 hours community service. Unfortunately due to the dogs condition and prognosis being poor the veterinary surgeon euthanased the dog on humane grounds.

RESCUE OF INTEREST

A collapsed pony was discovered on a bridle path in Peterborough. The pony was suffering from severe arthritis. The RSPCA cared for the pony and as no owner was ever found the pony was eventually rehomed.

Statistics for 2010

The "Collections" heading refers to situations other than cruelty cases where frontline staff were asked to attend sick or injured animals. These would normally be injured strays or wild animals which the person calling the RSPCA was not able to take direct to a vet. 

The majority of the cruelty complaints can be resolved by giving suitable advice on correct care. This is where the branch facilities are very important as it is often the case that very low income pet owners don't obtain veterinary help because they are afraid of the cost. Our inspectors can deal with many neglect complaints by telling the owner that they must take the animal to our clinic and checking later that our records show that this did happen and that the animal's condition was treated.

E2 statistics for 2010
Complaints dealt with	4549
Case files submitted	30
Convictions secured	12
Adult written cautions	10
No proceedings	8
Collections	5446

Claire and Ffiona on the Andie Harper show

Claire and Ffiona were interviewed on Radio Cambridgeshire's Andie Harper show today, talking about the cost of looking after pets. The link to listen again should work for the next seven days. 

It's a three hour program, so I'm afraid you have to listen to quite a lot of general current affairs before you get to the piece about veterinary treatment. Hopefully at least some of the listeners will have been motivated to think about making arrangements to ensure that they would be able to meet the cost of their pets' treatment.

It's that time of year again...

Even a few hours collecting can bring in enough to make a real difference to local animals.

If you live in our branch area and might be able to help, please email volunteering@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Otherwise, click on the RSPCA Week banner for more information about helping your own local branch.

More animal-related donations for sale at our Burleigh St shop

Badger "piggy-bank"

Birds cup and saucer

Closer view

Please keep the donations coming: they are the life-blood of our shops.

Merlin

A wide-eyed Merlin checking in to have his external fixator removed

Merlin has now had his external fixator off and is looking good. He'll have to be kept indoors and not allowed to jump for another four weeks, but the x-rays show his broken leg is nicely healed. Once the four weeks is up he'll be ready for adoption.

An external fixator is effectively a splint that's actually attached to the bone through holes in the leg. It means that a limb that's broken in several places can be stabilised so that the ends hold together and new bone can grow to fill the gap between. Merlin's x-rays show this process is complete and healthy new bone has completely filled the break.

Animal Welfare Statistics for January

In January our clinic treated 232 dogs, 90 cats, 6 rabbits and 2 miscellaneous "small furries". We rehomed 2 dogs, 9 cats and 3 rabbits.

This illustrates how vital it is that we keep on raising enough money to fund the clinic, because this represents 330 animals who might either have been put to sleep or relinquished for rehoming if a low-cost option for getting veterinary treatment hadn't been available. 

Where owners are caring, but don't have enough money to pay the full cost of a vet, it's much better all round if they can be enabled to keep their pets. 

• It costs less than treating the animals and boarding them until they can be rehomed.
• It means animals don't have to lose the family they know and love.
• It prevents "recycling" whereby people relinquish an animal they can't afford to look after and then acquire another one.

Our clinic costs us around £50,000 p.a. to run, including payments for the provision of veterinary services, vaccines, heat, light, rates, repairs etc.