Post for Ada Lovelace day 2010

Ada Lovelace day is here again and Victoria Braithwaite's new book on fish welfare has just been released, so I thought I'd combine the two.

Do Fish Feel Pain is very readable in spite of its strong scientific content and will not only be valuable for anyone who is interested in the controversial subject of the welfare of fish, but also as an introduction to the dilemmas involved in the ethics of animal welfare science. Many of the experiments which demonstrate that fish probably DO feel pain would probably not be acceptable if they were done on mammals, but without them far worse things would continue to be inflicted in the course of commercial fishing and aquaculture.

The book also contains happier evidence from observations of fish in the wild; some of it quite startling. Did you know that some fish have been seen hunting co-operatively, rather like humans using dogs to flush out prey? (DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040431.sv001) The grouper fish in the video clip is "calling" the eel to come out to hunt. (Bshary R, Hohner A, Ait-el-Djoudi K, Fricke H, 2006 Interspecific Communicative and Coordinated Hunting between Groupers and Giant Moray Eels in the Red Sea. PLoS Biol 4(12): e431. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040431)

Sponsored Dog Walk Sunday 11th April

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Email reception@rspca-cambridge.org.uk for more details and sponsorship forms

Stray dog frustration

This is the second time in as many weeks that I've had a call from someone who's found a stray dog. By law stray dogs are the responsibility of the local council and should be reported to their dog warden, but there's no guarante of cover unless the dog is found between 9 and 5 on a weekday.

Until a few months ago, the main police station in central Cambridge used to hold dogs overnight and over the weekend, but that seems to have been stopped, although the council website is still advising people to contact the police about stray dogs.

"If you find a dog in the evening or at the weekend, you should contact Cambridgeshire Police on 08454 564564.

You may be asked to take the dog to the police at Parkside police station, if you are able to do so safely."

and the police website still says that Parkside police station will accept dogs when no dog warden is available.

Worse and worse...

Three calls asking for help with the cost of treatment at private vets today. One I didn't feel that bad about as the owner knew about our clinic and had had the dog in question for several years, so there's no real excuse for not getting him registered. I'm reasonably happy that she did get the dog to the private vet and, while it may have left her painfully short of cash, nothing awful is going to happen because we couldn't help her.

One I felt very bad about — a hamster which had been dropped and almost certainly had a damaged spine, as he was dragging his back legs. In that situation there would be little that a vet could do other than put the hamster to sleep, and it's debateable whether spending £100 to get that done this evening rather than wait until the morning would be a good use of charity funds even if we could afford it. Still, in an ideal world this is something that wouldn't be delayed, even though spinal injuries aren't usually painful.

The third was one of those situations that really make you despair: a couple with twelve dogs, six of them not vaccinated, one with a litter of puppies. Last week one of the un-vaccinated dogs developed parvo-virus and was put to sleep. Today, the bitch with the puppies had diarrhoea with blood in it, which is one of the symptoms of parvo-virus infection. If she'd been registered at our clinic she could have been seen as an emergency — although even then there's a very limited amount that could be done to improve her chances. All I could suggest was that the owner should speak to the vet who treated the first sick dog to at least get some advice, and then take the bitch to our clinic on Tuesday (leaving her in the car so that she didn't mix with any of the other dogs).

The Good Life?

We periodically get requests to take in pigs and chickens (particularly cockerels which have caused fallings-out with neighbours), so I hope this is not a portent of things to come.

RTFM (or better, get personal advice from an expert, such as a vet), applies even more to living things than to computers.



They'd mostly be better advised to stick to fruit and veg (although my Mum says growing your own doesn't actually produce cheaper produce; just fresher and tastier; and the real benefit is the exercise you get).

And a quick plug for local rabbit (as pets, not potential lunch!) and gardening expert, Twigs Way's latest book, Allotment and Guarden Guide, a historical study of the wartime "Dig for Victory" campaign.

RSPCA Week 2010 26th April to 2nd May

Register an interest in volunteering with us

Volunteers' Meeting

We will be holding volunteers' meetings every 2nd Thursday of the month at Ross Street Community Centre in Cambridge (just off Mill Road), between 7.30 and 9.30 pm. Anyone interested in the branch is very welcome to drop by, and we hope that one of the two local inspectors will be able to attend some of the meetings and answer questions about their work and the relationship between the branch and the inspectors.

The meetings are intended as a social event for all our volunteers where they can exchange experiences of helping with branch activities, and also as a focus for recruiting more helpers, and a chance for volunteers to meet members of the branch committee and ask any questions they may have.

RSPCA week April 26-May 2nd is our next big fundraising event and we need as many collectors as possible—even a few hours can raise as much as £20. We are also planning a sponsored dog walk in Histon, and more helpers, donors and shoppers are always needed at the three charity shops.

If we are to start giving emergency help via private vets again we need to raise an extra £30,000 each year.

View Larger Map

How to find Ross St Community Centre

There is limited parking at the centre (disabled bay, plus a few other spaces), but there is a car park within easy walking distance on Gwydir Street.

And another cat

Owner thinks the cat has a chicken bone stuck in his throat. He's never been to any vet before, although, as he's on benefits this is another cat who could have been registered with our clinic and so eligible for out of hours emergency treatment from our veterinary service provider.

Cat's Protection are going to try to get the cat seen by a vet — which is likely to cost them over £100 at this time of night and their funds won't hold out indefinitely either if something similar happens every evening. The added problem is that the owner has no transport and no friends with transport, so getting to a vet is going to be difficult.

And a cat

Feel terribly sorry for the owner, but again it's just such a shame the cats weren't registered at our clinic. The cat's probably been hit by a car and at this time of night just the consultation fee for the 24 hour vet would be over £100 with treatment costs on top of that. I've advised her to phone them in any case in the hope that they may be willing to give some treatment and try for help from the PDSA in the morning.

The out of hours cover offered by our clinic's veterinary services provider would cost less than a third of this. At our current income there is just no way we can fund the £36,5oo p.a. which would be needed to pay for one out of hours consult at private vets every day of the year on top of running our clinic and pet rehoming.

If you live in our branch area and are on benefits (including carer's allowance, working tax credit, attendance allowance) and know you would struggle to pay a private vet PLEASE be proactive about getting your pets registered at our clinic. Provided your pet attends the clinic at least once a year (booster vaccinations should be given yearly in any case), they will be eligible for the clinic's out of hours service. This is not free, but it is much more affordable than the alternatives.

A Gecko...

Again, the vets were very good and agreed they would at least take a look even though the owner claimed to have no money at all to pay them.

I don't think the no money claim bodes well for the poor little beastie as even small reptiles are high maintenance because of their absolute requirement for suitable heating and light, unlike, say, a hamster which can at least survive at room temperature so long as it has food and bedding.

And another dog

This vet was very helpful and is at least prepared to see the dog and possibly give first aid knowing that they're very probably not going to get any payment back from the owner. However they're not going to be able to commit to doing anything seriously expensive.

Dog is now collapsed after being ill for several days and isn't registered with any vet. If ONLY the owner had pulled out all the stops to get him to our clinic this morning. If the private vet's first aid can keep him alive until Thursday we can do our best for him then, but it doesn't sound good.

And another...

Feel worse about this one, as the dog's clearly in a bad way: vomiting and very dull, and it's another 6 hours until our clinic opens. However, it does illustrate why we have to press owners to take more responsibility so our funds can be used to best effect. The dog's registered at a local private vet and was previously on long term medication, but hasn't been seen there for some time. This was presumably because the owners were short of money and just let it lapse and hoped for the best.

They're on benefits, so they could have transferred their registration to our clinic before things got desperate. At this time of day (night) it would cost £150 just for the consult at the 24 hour vet, which just wouldn't be a sensible use of our limited funds.

Collar wounds again

This story does have a happy ending because the cat's microchip enabled us to trace her owners. She had been missing for nearly nine months and they had given up hope of ever seeing her again. However, they are now going to be faced with a pretty substantial bill at their own vet as the wound caused by her collar will need cleaning and stitching under anaesthetic, and possibly a skin graft because so much of the skin around the area is infected and rotting. She's otherwise well and is eating so has a good chance of surviving and not losing the damaged leg.

All cat collars are potentially dangerous because the cat can be caught up and hung, or put a leg through the collar and slice into the soft skin where the cat's leg and body join. The least dangerous kind have a fastening which is designed to click open if it is put under tension, but this may not work if the cat is small and light or if the fastening is glued together by mud or food. Flea collars are the most dangerous because the wound they make will be contaminated by the insecticide with which they have been impregnated, making it even more difficult to heal.

Just refused my first request for welfare assistance

I've just had the first request for help that I've had to turn down since the suspension of welfare assistance at private vets.

This was a dog who'd been in a fight the previous evening, and his injuries were at least not life-threatening, although it is definitely not good practice for bite wounds to be left two days before treatment. Maddeningly the owner had previously been to our clinic with a different dog, and if she'd only registered this dog he could have been seen today. To her credit she realised this and was very upset and cross with herself.

Welfare assistance at private vets

With great regret Cambridge branch committee have decided there is no realistic alternative to suspending help with the cost of veterinary treatment at private vets for owned animals.

This does not affect branch help with first aid for strays whose owner is not known.

Over the past five years the demand for emergency financial help at private vets has more than quadrupled, and the amounts of money required for each treatment has more than doubled. This is just not sustainable without a gigantic increase in our income, which has not been possible in spite of our best efforts.

Treatment at a private vet is enormously less cost effective than using our branch animal clinic, and most of the time there is no good reason why the animal's owner could not have got their pet registered there. The vets who contract to provide services to our clinic will treat out of hours emergencies provided the individual animal involved has been registered at the clinic previously. Animals can be registered provided that the person who owns them is on a means-tested state benefit (which includes working tax credit, job-seeker's allowance and state pension and carer's allowance, but not child tax credit on its own).

Our animal clinic is at 1 Pool Way, Whitehill Road, Cambridge CB5 8NT and it is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (8.30 am - 10.30 pm). To register an animal you need to bring proof of current benefits and a £7 consultation fee, and the animal must attend to be checked over. Sick or injured animals can be seen for the first time on these days, and they will then be treated as registered. Animals must be brought to the clinic at least once every two years to keep their registration current.

We have not come to this decision lightly, but the only possible alternative would have been to put a strict limit to cover the vet's consultation fee only. This would still strain our funds and it would mean that we would frequently be achieving nothing beyond reimbursing the vet for part of the cost of putting the animal to sleep. The number of animals put to sleep using RSPCA funds is frequently used in campaigns to discourage donations to the RSPCA, so in the interest of our overall ability to help animals it would be preferable to stop help at private vets entirely rather than continue at a low level.

Webshop newsletter

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Purchases made through www.buy.at/RSPCA.Cambridge are made according to the information and terms provided by the company making the sale to you. Further details on using the buy.at shop are provided on the site.

Feature on E61 in Local Secrets e-zine

the RSPCA's funky Emporium 61 on Burleigh Street. Popular with Cambridge's resident students, the shop does a glamorous trade in 70s maxi dresses, pussy bow blouses and fake fur. Woof! Proceeds from the locally donated goods fund regional services such as the charity's animal A&E.

What would you do if your pet needed an £800 operation?

In comparison with the astronomical costs of human surgery, veterinary operations are (almost) a bargain, but they come as a complete shock to many otherwise good owners. Many cats (and some dogs) will sail through life, needing no more than annual boosters and some geriatric care as they age. Sadly this is not something that is guaranteed, and sometimes the owners of quite young animals may be faced with horrible choices if they are unaware of what may happen.

If a cat or dog is hit by a car, treatment costs may quickly reach the thousands, but there are also acute medical conditions which can need treatment that cannot wait. Some of these are completely preventable (pregnancy complications are my particular hate), but some are nobody's fault. It's particularly upsetting if an otherwise healthy animal's life is endangered by a condition that is treatable.

As a branch, we will do our very best for animals whose owners really cannot raise the money needed to save their lives, but we cannot work miracles and we cannot spend money that we don't have. If you are earning, PLEASE make sure you have a credit card with available funds cover the cost of unexpected emergencies, or an insurance arrangement that will pay your vet direct. If you are not earning, don't simply assume that charity funding will be available - often any charity help will go no-where near covering the cost of treatment, particularly if the emergency happens outside normal surgery hours.

Our branch can help some people who are working, but on a very low income, but many charities have tighter restrictions, and in the end it all comes down to our ability to continue raising funds. 2009 was a bad year for this because of the economic downturn and the freeze just before Christmas. If you care about animals, please support our charity shops in 2010 - they are a lifeline for animals in Cambridgeshire, and at the moment it is a lifeline that is close to breaking.

Volunteers needed in Newmarket

Our charity shop at 156 High Street, Newmarket urgently needs more volunteers to cover Saturday afternoons. We particularly need helpers for sorting incoming donations and cleaning and tidying the shop and stockroom so that they're ready for the Monday volunteers.

If you don't have time to volunteer every Saturday, it would still be very useful to have more people willing to come in on a monthly rota.

If you can help, please call in at the shop (ideally on a Saturday morning or early Saturday afternoon).