Lessons Learned

Firstly I should stress that the following are my own thoughts about the distressing case of Luna, reported to the RSPCA as an injured stray and subsequently put to sleep because there was no available holding accommodation for her. I am sure HQ will be holding their own review and seeing what changes should/can be made.

On policy:

1. The current policy that we will not normally remove healthy adult stray cats from their current location needs to be re-affirmed.
2. We need to clarify that cats who are reported to be sick or injured, but are found on capture to be perfectly well will be returned to their original location.
3. The 7 day holding period for sick or injured stray animals who are not homeable, but don't need immediate euthanasia on welfare grounds needs to be added to the branch Minimum Animal Welfare Standards and made mandatory.

On practical issues:

1. We need to recruit more foster carers as a cost-effective way of increasing holding spaces for animals.
2. We need to plan what can be done in a situation where no kennel or foster space is available or the animal is not suitable to go to a foster home. This will cost money. Usually the only solution at weekends would be to transfer the animal to the veterinary surgery which is providing 24 hour cover for the district. Reasonably enough they will charge a substantial amount if an animal has to take up an expensive emergency care place.

Education

1. Microchip identification is not perfect, but the more we can encourage, the better the chance that a cat picked up as an injured stray will be reunited speedily with her owners. It's particularly important to chip cats who have some disability or condition which makes them likely to be reported as sick or injured (for example a permanently stiff leg following an injury).
2. Educate the public that a cat in good body condition, with no obvious injuries or illness, who is "hanging around" is normally perfectly capable of returning home without help.
3. Educate vets that we're not simply "putting off the decision" if we ask for an obviously terminally ill stray to be held the full 7 days so long as it can be kept pain-free.
4. Educate branch members and volunteers that when they signed up to the RSPCA they effectively signed up to an open-ended responsibility for animals collected by ACOs.

The most practically problematic of these is likely to be number 2 of the first group. Legally we probably can't insist that a cat removed from a particular garden is returned there if the owner of the garden refuses permission. Returning as close as possible to the original site is probably the best that can be guaranteed, so once an animal has been collected it's probably safer held until claimed by an owner if it can't be returned to the exact site.

Number 4 of the last group is a real consideration. The RSPCA is an extremely complex organisation dealing with issues that would take several inch-thick manuals to describe properly. Normal people don't, won't and can't assimilate anything like this before they join up as helpers and this does mean that quite a lot of the time they're being asked to do something and really don't know why — or at least not why it's their responsibility when they're already doing as much as they're comfortable with and they're genuinely short of funds.

The money aspect is a genuine consideration. Money spent keeping an unhomeable cat for 7 days is money that's not available to help with another animal's veterinary treatment.

Further thought

I think we should ban the phrase, "he'll find his way home" when we're talking to the public about cats they want to report as strays, because it implies that the cat is lost and has to search for home. I don't have to find my way home from the shops — I know the route, and so does the average cat who's visiting a garden a few doors down.

Stray cats II

RSPCA HQ have now put up a statement about the Mirror article, and the story behind what happened seems to be much as I suspected. Evidently the cat was originally reported as a sick animal whose owner wasn't known. I've been on the receiving end of calls like this, and there can be an awful lot of pressure to remove an animal, and insistence that it is in terrible pain. Once you've caught the cat, if the owner of the land where it was found is adamant that it mustn't be put back you are in a bind.

99 times out of 100 there's no problem and the cat is placed in kennels or a foster home and either rehomed or claimed by the owner. If the cat is unhomeable, most of the time it's at least possible to hold him/her for a reasonable length of time to give the owner a chance to come forward.

Until comparatively recently vets would normally be asked to hold the cat for at least 7 days if no kennel space was available. Now, most veterinary surgeries outsource their out of hours emergency cover to specialist 24hr centres and all their own staff go home overnight and at weekends. Some of them will stretch a point and get a nurse to come in briefly to feed and water weekend boarders, but most are unhappy about leaving animals unattended. That means they can't be used as a form of emergency space for holding animals. Kennels all have limits on their numbers set out as part of their licence conditions, so they can't "just squeeze in one more".

That leaves foster homes — and most of us would do our best to fit in one more cat in an emergency.

Do that too often, and you become part of the problem, not part of the solution. There's a numbers limit beyond which animals can't be kept in reasonably sanitary conditions, with parasites treated and veterinary appointments kept.

Update from our homing co-ordinator

Our cat numbers in kennels are now up to 21 and I've got various desperate messages from people wanting us to take cats and everywhere else seems full so it's quite a problem.

Clare (Inspector) phoned me about a 18 month old pomeranian that she got signed over as owner wasn't coping. It sounds as though it's destructive but I dont know much else. It should be very rehomable being small and a "breed" unless it has bad behavioural issues.

I agreed to take a rabbit from a home in Newmarket, again owners seriously not coping.

I had a call from someone who had 2 cats from us some time ago. One has since died and she adopted another from a different rescue. She has had an awful time. Her husband's been ill a while with a brain tumour so can't work and is now in a care home. They had to sell up their home to pay debts and now have to leave their rented accomodation as the landlord's moving into it having lost his main residence. She and the two kids are having to go to a hostel temporarily, which won't allow cats. She really didn't want to give them up but cant afford to pay boarding costs for ages. Bearing in mind that if they were given up for rehoming we would be obliged to at least take Ronnie back and we would possibly be stuck with him ages (he was a long stayer before she adopted him) I have agreed to have them with a view to her having them back when she gets a permanent home. Could be quite some time though!

Its a shame really as I was intending to take on a couple of oldies from the kennels but this will bung me up again!

Cambourne Youth Festival Fun Dog Show

June 27^th 2009

Categories:

1) Prettiest bitch (1-8 yrs)

2) Handsomest dog (1-8 yrs)

3) Golden Oldie (Males and females, 9 yrs +)

4) Cutest puppy (Males and females up to 1 yr old)

5) Childs best friend (Any age, any sex, handled by a child)

6) Best trick (Any dog!)

Entry fee per dog, per class, 50p or a tin of dog food. All proceeds to Cambridge and district branch of RSPCA. Prizes for winners.

Entry forms available on the day.

For further info/ class times, please pre-register at

cambournedogshow@hotmail.co.uk

Statistics for May 2009

During May, we rehomed six dogs, four cats and two budgies. We microchipped a total of 34 animals and neutered 24 (12 dogs, 9 cats and 3 rabbits). We provided low cost treatment at our clinic for 200 dogs, 113 cats, 15 rabbits and 6 miscellaneous animals and helped with the cost of treatment of 23 dogs, four cats and 2 miscellaneous animals at private vets. We tested three cats for FeLV because they were in high risk categories and of these two were positive and had to be put to sleep.

Stray cats again

Today's Mirror has a story which seems absolutely horrifying on the face of it. The National RSPCA's spokesman has simply stated that the Society is trying to find exactly what did happen, and they are clearly as gob-smacked as I am, because virtually everything that happened breaks normal policy on dealing with complaints about "stray" cats.

For the record, what would normally happen is as follows:

Caller phones in (sometimes direct to a branch or animal home, sometimes to the National Control Centre).

Caller: There's a stray cat in my garden and I want you to come out and pick it up.

RSPCA: Is the cat injured? Does it seem to be ill.

Then,

either:

Caller: Yes - I saw the poor thing hit by a car - one of its legs is hanging off.

(What's wrong obviously varies depending on circumstances)

RSPCA: Can you take the cat to a vet and we'll pay for treatment? That would be quickest. If you haven't got transport we can send someone out, but that may take a while.....

OR

Caller: No, but it's been hanging around for days and it needs rehoming.

RSPCA: Most cats like that do have a home and go back there when they're hungry. Don't encourage him by feeding him and he'll probably go home. If you're still worried, try putting on a paper collar asking the owner to phone you - or put up notices asking if anyone local's lost a cat.

Normally we're very resistant indeed to agreeing to pick up healthy, uninjured cats just because someone says they're stray - to the point where callers often get quite annoyed about it. It wouldn't normally be treated as a priority (because the animal isn't in distress) so it would be very surprising for an inspector to be diverted to collect the cat in the short length of time described in the article.

Of course micro-chipping would make this kind of event much less likely (although still not impossible if a cat is very difficult to handle in order to scan for a chip).

In any situation it's always possible that some individual may make a completely unreasonable and wrong decision or be over-persuaded by a caller who is totally convinced they're in the right. Possibly the explanation is that this cat was injured and the real argument is over whether the injuries were treatable or not.

Responses to the bull breed questionnaire

Where did you get your dog from?

RSPCA 16%
Other animal welfare organisation 22%
Breeder 25%
Friend 25%
Other 13%

All but one of those who had not yet microchipped their dogs mentioned cost as the reason (one person was concerned about possible risks of chipping). Most of those whose dogs were not neutered were either deterred by cost or had puppies not yet old enough for the operation. One was planning to breed from her bitch (this person specifically mentioned her bitch's good temperament as a reason) and one did not believe in castrating male dogs if they were not giving any behavioural reason for concern (this person mentioned that her two bitches were both spayed).

What sex is your dog?


male 16 50%
female 16 50%



Is your dog neutered?



Yes 19 59%
No 13 41%







If no, would you consider having your dog neutered?

Yes 12 86%
No 2 14%



Is your dog microchipped?



Yes 22 69%
No 10 31%


Would you consider getting another bull dog/ terrier in the future?



Yes 30 94%
No 2 6%

Only two people said they would not consider getting another bull breed dog, but neither ruled this out in the longterm, as both mentioned existing family dogs who would not accept another bull breed.

Maggots! (Fly Strike)

These two videos from Vetstoria.com explain exactly what flystrike (maggot infestation) is. Warning: some upsetting pictures.

Rabbits are the animals most likely to be at risk, but it is possible for ANY animal, including cats and dogs, to be attacked if he/she has open wounds, soiling round the anus, or has difficulty in grooming all parts of his/her body (for example due to old age or obesity). We had a request for help with treatment for a cat suffering from fly strike at our branch this weekend.

There are veterinary preparations which can be used to reduce the danger of fly attack, so if you keep rabbits, this is something you should discuss with your vet. Be aware that sensible diet is an important method of reducing risk: rabbits should have hay and grass as their main source of calories with vegetables and commercial pellets only as a treat, not their main meal. It is also important to keep cages and litter trays scrupulously clean to avoid attracting flies and prevent them from breeding. Avoid leaving uneaten cat or dog food anywhere where flies can get at it to lay eggs.

Any animal with conditions causing soiling of their anal area needs to be checked for fly eggs at least twice daily during warm weather when flies are active. If eggs or maggots are found this is an emergency and you need to contact your vet immediately. Wounds or sores are also attractive to flies and should be checked as well.

Excellent news about Katie

Katie is a youngish cat who we took in a few weeks ago and took up for investigation at the University Vet School because the vet we use at the kennels found a very large lump in her abdomen when checking her fitness to be spayed. The most common reason for this in a cat would be lymphoma, which is an invasive cancer with very bad prospects.

However, the Vet School did an exploratory operation on her tum on Monday and the "lump" seems to have been a very large internal abscess, which they've removed surgically. They're doing culture of the pus to check which antibiotics are best to use, but say provided the wound doesn't break down (some danger of this because it was actually attached to her gut wall) she's got a good chance of full recovery. They waited until today to phone me in case she went downhill after the op.

Piano for sale at our charity shop 188 Mill Road

Very many thanks to the kind person who donated this piano to our charity shop. Best offer over £150 secures. If you're interested, either drop in (188 Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 3LP) or email camshop@rspcabookshop.co.uk or phone 01223 212 644

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.