Worse than I expected

We were warned at the last meeting of the Regional Board that the drop in income from donations would mean the National Society would have to make cuts in annual spending, so this doesn't come as a complete shock. However a planned saving of £54 million is fairly steep, even spread over a three year period. Normal annual turnover of the National Society varies around the £100 million mark, so we're looking at a cut of about 18%, rather than the 9% that was originally suggested as a probable figure.

On ducks and water

This is something I wouldn't normally write about because it's not really relevant to our local activities, but it's so important because of the general principle involved that I thought I must say something.

Marion Stamp Dawkins is a very famous and respected scientist in the field of animal welfare, and one of her department's recent studies involved DEFRA-funded work on the welfare of farmed ducks.

This is important for anyone who cares about animal welfare, but doesn't think we can simply ban eating farmed ducks, because the UK rears approximately 18 million ducks for meat annually. Currently there is no legal requirement that farmed ducks should have access to water, beyond the provision of "nipples" similar to pet drinking bottles. Allowing large numbers of ducks access to ponds which cannot be kept clean is problematic because of the risk of salmonella and other diseases.

Unfortunately, publication of the first results of the study has been met with howls of derision and very little sympathy for intensively farmed ducks.

If your organisation has a subscription to Science Direct, you can read one of the scientific papers on the results of the study at doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2008.07.008 however, the less readable DEFRA report is free and is available to download. One important finding is that it is possible to enable farmed ducks to keep themselves clean, and stop them getting sore eyes, by providing showers of water droplets. This uses less water than ponds and doesn't have the hygiene risks associated with pools of stagnant water.

Most of the criticism of spending money on this research into welfare standards stems from the view that: "We knew all of this already". This simply isn't true. Abolitionist campaigners have certainly been saying for years that ducks ought to be allowed water they can swim in — to which intensive farmers have replied smartly that this is sentimental nonsense and ducks are better off in warm, dry pens with drinking water that cannot be contaminated by their droppings.

The Oxford study demonstrated for the first time that water is essential to allow efficient preening, which is important for the birds' comfort, but that a clean shower, or a narrow trough is as good for this purpose as a larger body of water.

Interestingly the almost the only non-science publication to have reported the item positively and in a balanced way is Farmers Weekly:

"In an on-farm trial, it was clear that of all water supplies available to ducks – whether it's via a trough, pond, shower or nipple drinker – birds overwhelmingly preferred spending time under the shower.

Although there is no looming regulatory need to offer extra water supplies to farmed ducks, producers – backed by the British Poultry Council – have supported the research, which also included detailed scoring of the birds on test to assess various aspects of their physical condition while alive and after slaughter."

"The purpose of the trial was to assess the behavioural reaction to ducks when given access to a range of different sources of water in which to bathe. Commercial producers were fully supportive of the trial, but recognised that providing clean supplies of water for large numbers of commercially reared ducks – and keeping that water and the area around it clean – isn't easy," said Prof Dawkins.

Drat! Yet another setback with the new shop

Solicitors phoned today to say they'd just received the documentation concerning the "licence to assign" from the owner of the freehold (the Prudential). This is a legal necessity to give the current tenants permission to sell the existing lease to us and both the solicitor and I were pretty unhappy that they are only now — six months into the process — asking that we not only provide bank references, but also a guarantor of rent payment.

We offered proof that we have sufficient funds to cover lease payments to the current tenants right at the start, but this is completely fresh, and looks as if it may completely throw a spanner in the works. The Prudential probably hope that the National RSPCA will agree to underwrite our payments with their own funds — which legally I don't think they can as it would be diverting charity donations given for another purpose. Devoted as I am to the branch, I'm not prepared to use my house as a guarantee, and I don't think any of the rest of us should either.

I suppose this is happening because the Prudential are getting nervous about possible rent defaulting in the current economic situation. If something similar is going on with other shops it's not surprising that so many are empty around Cambridge.

One day retro/vintage sale day!!!!

Sadly still no more news on the new shop and we are currently swamped with amazing stock, but no way of showing and selling it. Until now.......

On Saturday 30th May, Recycle, Reuse, Restyle, an eco credit crunch beating event is being held at St Phillips' Church, Mill Rd Baptist Church and outside the former Wilco shop. In addition to tips on how to save money and become more eco friendly, we will be showing and selling a small range of our amazing retro & vintage stock. Charity shops, retro & vintage clothing and clothes customization are after all "the new black", or maybe the new Green!

We'll be in one of the Church halls from 10-4 pm, so come along and find some treasures.

St Phillips: View Larger Map



Mill Road Baptist Church: View Larger Map

Freedom Food Egg Saga continues

Alice Clark, senior farm animal scientist with the RSPCA, said she was working with the egg industry to gather the evidence necessary for the RSPCA to be able to support the change. She said the RSPCA had asked scientists at Bristol University to look into the issue, but Tom Vesey said, "We don’t have that much time. The suspicion is that the RSPCA is prevaricating. I get the feeling the RSPCA finds it best to say nothing. It says it is looking for evidence, but that is like proving a negative. This could drag on for 12 months or more and there could well be a shortage of eggs. The shortage could be filled with imports, many of them of questionable welfare standard. That would do nothing for animal welfare."

Alice Clark told the Ranger that she was just as keen as the egg industry to press on with an evaluation of the potential impact on welfare. "It’s not something that we have closed the door on; we are keen to look at it," said Alice. She said the evidence about the potential effect on animal welfare did not exist at the moment, but she had been holding meetings on possible trials.

She said the RSPCA was asking scientists at Bristol University to look into the issue as part of an existing study under way at the university. The study was set up to look into range enhancement. Scientists are one year into a three-year project. "Bristol are very keen to do that, so that should be under way."

Read it all...

Why isn't RSPCA Week a success?

RSPCA week does raise significant amounts of money for animal welfare, but why isn't it more successful than it is?

Every year we appeal for volunteers to help collect, but very few actually come forward. As a comparision: over four thousand calls were made to the rehoming line, set up when the St Bernards became available for adoption, within the space of a few days.

I think there are several, interconnected reasons for the difference:

• The St Bernards appeal offered a single, heart-tugging story. "Bread and butter" collections to support routine animal welfare work don't have the same immediacy.
• People may genuinely believe that the RSPCA doesn't really have a pressing need to generate funds. I've even had kindly-meant offers of help to take donated sales goods to the Sue Ryder shop to get rid of it so that it doesn't take up storage space.
• Most branch committees are run by very few, over-worked individuals. This means the people organising RSPCA week are generally also trying to do other things. Volunteer collectors may get the impression that things are disorganised and badly-run, and they may feel unappreciated if they don't get their collection results back quickly after they've returned their boxes.
• Most collectors expect to be putting in a few hours as part of a well-organised rota of hundreds of individuals. There seems to be a vicious circle whereby the volunteer who finds she is the only person collecting at a particular store decides the organisers can't have put in very much effort to recruit collectors and that she probably won't bother next year.
• People who are already very involved in caring for animals are often quite dissatisfied with the RSPCA — sometimes because they feel RSPCA campaigns aren't radical enough; sometimes because they think our campaigns go too far, and sometimes because they have unrealistic expectations of what is physically possible for us to do in terms of practical animal welfare. This means our potential volunteers and helpers are probably drawn mainly from a population which is initially less committed (people who might collect for an hour, but wouldn't expect to be asked to put in a whole day, for example).

RSPCA Birmingham Animal Centre

Birmingham is a large centre run by RSPCA HQ, but the basic problems of rehoming animals are applicable to all RSPCA groups

Rabbits in urgent need

The Rabbit Residence rescue in Hertfordshire, the Mayhew Animal Rescue in London and the RSPCA are looking to rehome 18 rabbits in urgent need of rehoming from a 'city farm' in London.  All of the rabbits will be checked over by the Mayhew's vets, however, unfortunately both the Mayhew and the Rabbit Residence are absolutely full at the moment so the rabbits have nowhere to go.

If anybody could provide a good home for any of these rabbits then please do get in touch with Caroline at the Rabbit Residence. Her number is 07904 397378, and her email is rabbit_residence@hotmail.com

The best way to contact Caroline is by text or email. All the rabbits will be checked over by the Mayhew's vets, and, if necessary, they can be transported to anybody who can provide a good home. It would also be a great help if anyone was able to adopt some of the rabbits currently at the Mayhew or Rabbit Residence in order to free up space so that others can come in. 

Some of the rabbits currently with Rabbit Residence can be viewed in their rehoming gallery. There is also information about the correct conditions for keeping rabbits on the website.

Homes needed for ex-battery hens

Homes needed for 11,000 Battery hens by 29th June!!

Little Hen Rescue would like to make contact with people interested in taking on ex-battery hens. They're not an RSPCA group, but they are well organised and have sensible policies on selecting suitable homes. If they are not satisfied that you would be capable of providing suitable free-range conditions for chickens, they will not rehome birds with you.

I should stress that they are an entirely legal rescue; they make agreements with farmers who are about to dispose of "spent" hens who are no longer economically viable as commercial layers. 

Their next rescue event is due to take place on 29th June and they need to have enough homes to accommodate 11,000 hens by that date.

Please use the form on their website to contact them if you are interested in taking on a group of hens. They're based in Norfolk (with an outpost in Lincolnshire) and you would need to be able to arrange collection from there.

New charity shop

The process of purchasing the lease of 61 Burleigh Street is proving to be very protracted and I know that some of our supporters are feeling frustrated about this. We have to follow the legal advice of our solicitors, as we would potentially be putting the branch funds at risk if we were to sign the lease without getting the proper safeguards.

At the moment, we are waiting for the freehold owner of the shop to provide what is called a "licence to assign", which is a legal document confirming that the current tenants (who currently lease the building) have permission to transfer the lease to us and that there are no additional conditions, on top of those in the actual lease, which could be detrimental to our ability to use the shop or result in increased cost to us. 

We have the purchase funds waiting in our bank account and a mountain of sales stock stored at 188 Mill road, so once the lease and licence are available, we should be able to open very quickly.

Happy endings - pics of Nicholas in his new home

Two rats

This is one of a pair of rats who were found running loose in the street by a member of the public and brought to our clinic. They're both visibly aged and this one has an injury which I suspect is the result of him chewing out the stitches after removal of a tumour.

At this time of life it's fairly unlikely that they would suddenly make a break for freedom off their own bat and the most likely explanation is that they were turned loose. They're both friendly and well-handled, and my guess is that the owner couldn't face up to the responsibility of deciding either to take them for euthanasia or organise continued treatment. Cost may have been part of this — a private vet would probably charge in the region of £30 to put down and dispose of two rats — but some of it may just have been inability to cope with the idea of sickness and death. In the past we've had stray hamsters with horrible-looking tumours which had obviously been released because the owner just couldn't bear to look at them. 

The clinic vets say these two are quite happy at the moment, but they've probably not got long before we have to put them to sleep.

Music and pictures as well as books at 188 Mill Road

Just a reminder that our charity shop at 188 Mill road sells collectable vinyl records, CDs and art as well as second-hand books. 

We're always grateful for donations of any of these.

RSPCA East Region Bull Breed Neutering Campaign

The Staffordshire bull terrier is the dog most likely to become unwanted in the RSPCA’s East region. 

So far this year 12 of the 94 abandoned dogs collected by the RSPCA in the East region are Staffies or Staffie crosses.  [These figures were collected in March, and we've taken in several more since then, so I expect the same is true of other branches]. In 2008, 90 of the 354 abandoned dogs rescued were Staffies or Staffie types, and in 2007, 97 of the 406 were Staffies/ crossbreeds.

RSPCA branches and animal centres in the East region report that Staffies and Staffie crosses are by far the breed that they see the most of. More than three quarters of Staffies/Staffie crosses taken in were male.

RSPCA superintendent Kelly Rivers said: “Staffies and other bull dogs and terriers are wonderful dogs. The problems are not usually with them but at the other end of the lead, with owners who buy them for the wrong reasons. All too often they are also used as money making machines and have several litters of puppies each year which are sold on to equally unscrupulous owners.”

“We want to see bull breeds who are properly trained, socialised and cared for. This duty of care includes neutering and microchipping your dog – no excuses.”

Many owners either refuse to have their pets neutered because they either want to protect their dog’s ‘tough’ image or because they want to breed from them - often to make money.

Of the Staffordshires, and other bull terriers taken in, half of RSPCA branches in the East said that those neutered count for less than five per cent of those taken in.

The most common reasons for giving up these dogs were that owners could no longer care for them or could not afford to keep them.

Bull terriers and bull dogs, through no fault of their own, suffer a bad press due to their aggressive image and popularity as status symbols. The high numbers of abandonments and unwanted pets reflect the fact that many people who buy them do so for the wrong reasons then quickly tire of looking after them. Sadly, these are the same people who neglect to neuter their animals, leading to needless health problems and many more unwanted puppies.

RSPCA Cambridge is taking part in the campaign and, if you live in our area and you are on benefits, we can send you out a voucher towards part of the cost of getting your bull terrier neutered. This can be used at most local vets. The map at the side of this blog shows the extent of our branch area. To apply for a voucher, email neuter@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

We would also like bull terrier owners to complete our short survey to help us get a better understanding of why some bull terriers become unwanted, while others spend their whole lives as well-loved pets.

Animal welfare statistics for March 2009

During March we rehomed a total of 11 animals and neutered 51 (16 dogs 32 cats 2 rabbits and 1 ferret). We chipped 20 and provided low-cost veterinary treatment for 358 owned animals (214 dogs, 124 cats, 9 rabbits and 11 miscellaneous species) and 35 stray animals (4 dogs, 31 cats).

We had to put down 1 dog, 3 cats and 3 miscellaneous species on veterinary advice.

In comparison with March 2008, the neutering figures are way up — I'm not sure if this is because more people are aware they can get help with the cost of neutering their pets, or because more people are feeling short of money.

Microchipping and older cats

Fenella is off to the vet tomorrow after giving me a nasty scare. She's not yet chipped, mainly because every time she sees a vet they say, "Poor old lady," (her, not me!), "Why not wait a bit to see how she's going to go on before bothering her?" It's been seven months now, and they're quite right, her kidneys might pack up any day and she'd have to be put to sleep.

However, at the moment she's feeling perfectly well and the latest course of antibiotic has energised her to the point at which a quiet totter round the garden and back to bed is no longer enough, so she took herself off for the day. This is precisely the sort of behaviour that leads to older cats being picked up and handed in as strays. To someone who doesn't know, they look thin and people assume it means no-one is feeding them and they ought to be taken to a rescue organisation. This is probably why Fen was brought to us in the first place. Older cats may not normally wander far, but it is particularly important that they are chipped so that they don't end up taking places needed by genuinely unwanted animals.

Anyway, lesson learned; she's not going out again until she has her identichip.

Pregnant cat

I thought this was going to be simple; her owner phoned first thing asking for financial help because she was unsteady and didn't seem to be able to lift her tail. This is commonly the result of an infected bite near the base of the tail, which usually responds well to antibiotics, so I authorised £50 for first aid at the closest private vet, with the owner to transfer her to the RSPCA clinic tomorrow morning if further treatment was needed.

Turns out she's almost certainly been hit by a car, and she's currently not able to work the muscles that should expel urine from her bladder, so she needs inpatient treatment with periodic manual emptying of the bladder. The second problem is that she's very heavily pregnant and near term. More or less the same set of abdominal muscles are responsible for pushing out kittens... so she'll have to have a caesarian. The muscle problems may or may not clear up with time - there's nothing the vets can do other than supportive treatment as it depends on whether the nerves which control the muscle have been destroyed beyond recovery or just damaged and capable of regrowth. If she doesn't get back enough function to control her own bladder there's really no option other than euthanasia, as it will eventually damage her kidneys.

When all this was explained to her owner, his immediate reaction was to ask for her to be put down straight away. The nurses didn't want to do this and persuaded him to sign the cat over. One of the vets has kindly offered to do the caesarian in her own time (to keep costs for us as low as possible) and the nurses will then take it in turns to foster her together with the kittens to give them all at least a fighting chance.

Injured staffie

He was found in Milton Country Park by a member of the public and taken to Village Vets for first aid. They think he's definitely got a broken jaw and possibly a fractured leg, so we're covering the cost of first aid with them and one of our volunteer drivers is going to transfer him to the clinic tomorrow morning.

No details yet about his general appearance, other than that he's very friendly. If he might be yours, please contact Village Vets (before tomorrow) or email rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk (after then).

The puppies who were dumped in the Newnham village play area

 

These puppies were found just before Easter in a rubbish bin on the Newnham Village play area, They're about 6 weeks old.

Update on the St Bernards

It sounds as if the response to the appeal to rehome the St Bernards is going really well. The Northants Evening Telegraph reports that the dedicated number (0300 123 8000) set up to answer enquiries about adopting one of them has already had over 3,000 calls. Even if less than 10% have suitable facilities for such large dogs, it looks as if all of them are going to find homes with no more waiting.

Let's hope that some of the callers who don't adopt a St Bernard will consider some of the other thousands of dogs who also need homes—some of them very much less challenging to care for simply because they're a more manageable size.