Special appeal for Apple's operation

Apple came in to us last week because she was found with a bad leg injury and her owner could not be contacted.

Initially we thought this would heal up with treatment by antibiotics and dressing the wound but it's now looking as if we have the choice of amputating the leg (cost around £200) or spending around £800 on surgery to graft some of her healthy skin to the injured area.

The underlying problem is what vets call a "de-gloving injury" which literally means that the limb's skin has come away like someone peeling off a glove. Obviously we would prefer to save her leg if possible as she's a young cat with, hopefully, a full life ahead of her. 

We've set up an online appeal page on JustGiving to raise funds specifically to go towards the cost of an operation. If we do better than we expect and overshoot the target we'll use the excess to pay for the treatment of other injured strays.

Appeal for Apple: https://www.justgiving.com/RSPCA-Cambridge-Apple

If you would like to donate by text message, you can do this by texting the code CLIN88 £1 to 70070

(to donate more than £1 just change the figure after the pound sign).

Branch AGM: 20th June

Cambridge branch's Annual General Meeting will be held at the Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane in Cambridge on 20th June. Meeting starts at 7:30 pm and normally finishes around 9:30.

The main purpose of the AGM is to elect a committee to run the branch for the next 12 months and there are a two essential rules we have to satisfy in order to do this:

1. At least seven branch members need to be willing to stand for election.
   
   Barring accidents we have our seven, however there is still time for any other branch members who might be interested to get in touch in order to be added to the ballot paper. A committee can have up to fourteen members and seven is a little on the low side to cover all the work that's involved in running a branch.
   
   
2. Enough branch members need to turn up at the actual AGM to cast their vote to hold a valid election.
   
   So, even if you don't think you've got time to join the committee, your presence is important. Aside from the need to hold the election, this is the one chance in the year for you to meet the people who work on the ground during the rest of the year and ask questions.

I've you're not a branch member, but you're interested in the work of the local branch (maybe you already volunteer for us) you are also very welcome at the meeting, but I'm afraid you can't vote.

The other side of the fence...

The BVA's Animal Welfare Foundation has an absolutely fascinating video of a discussion at their 2013 meeting on what happens when vets are faced with a scenario where an owner either can't or won't take responsibility for their pet's needs.

It's nearly an hour long, but full of things that we in rescue need to think about:

• Chipping — is it a way to identify a particular animal (this is Fred who is vaccinated against rabies and that is Trigger who can't be eaten as he's been treated with Bute), or is it a way to make it possible to contact a human who accepts responsibility for an animal (this is Fluffy Jones; Mrs Jones will pay to fix her broken leg and can be contacted on this mobile number)? Both the Pet Passport and the Horse Passport schemes were designed only with the first option in mind and it makes their welfare value much less useful than it could be.
• What happens if an un-chipped stray dog is badly injured? Theoretically the Local Authority is responsible for the dog's welfare but they will almost certainly refuse to pay for treatment.
• The need to educate vets and their staff that healthy stray cats should not be "kidnapped" probably removing them from a satisfactory home and possibly meaning they will be put to sleep or other cats will be put to sleep to make space for them.
• Owners don't budget for vet bills because they hope the worst will never happen — when it does they expect the vet to make an exception for them, but the same scenario may be playing out in the vet's premises several times a week. We have to educate the public to understand it is impossible to treat hundreds of sick or injured animals without a reasonable amount of financial input from their owners.
• Horses may be in a field somewhere with no indication at all of the location of their owner if something goes terribly wrong.
• Payment plans largely don't work as a solution to the owner who can't pay as the owner either doesn't meet the payments or sends a series of cheques which bounce. The owner who can't save also probably won't be able to set aside a certain amount each month to pay the vet back. This is pretty much our experience of trying to run payment plans at the Cambridge RSPCA clinic.
• Dealing with the problem of the owner without enough money is complicated by the law on credit, intended to restrain loan sharks but adding an extra worry for anyone wanting to offer interest-free credit for vet bills.

Welfare Statistics January-April 2013

So far this year we've rehomed three dogs, twenty-four cats and six miscellaneous "small furries". 

We've provided 801 low-cost treatments for dogs, 272 for cats, 35 rabbits and 12 "small furries" and micro-chipped 55 dogs, 43 cats and 2 rabbits.

Visits to our clinic are slightly down compared with 2012 and it's concerning that some people may be putting off getting vaccinations and treatments for minor ailments as a result of the economic situation. 

This is a particular worry because visiting our clinic and being registered gives an individual animal access to the Vet School's out of hours service for the following two years (after which they need to be registered again by attending the clinic). I can't stress enough how important this is because emergencies by their very nature are likely to be much more costly to treat than the run-of-the-mill things. Not being registered might cost an animal their life because we cannot pay £1000+ to enable them to be treated at the commercial 24 hour vet if their owner has no money.

Some things can be dealt with by first aid and pain relief to tide the animal over until the next clinic session, but there are many acute conditions which cannot wait for treatment. Just two weeks ago I was phoned late at night about a mastiff with gastric dilation (GDV commonly referred to as "bloat"). Although I managed to get the dog seen by a vet she was probably put to sleep because her owner had no funds to pay for the operation she needed. If she'd been registered by attending our clinic she would at least have had a chance.

I'm afraid the only solution is a combination of publicity to drum into owners that they must get their pets registered instead of putting their heads in the sand, and fundraise, fundraise, fundraise so that we can subsidise the clinic enough to make it more attractive to owners whose finances are teetering on a knife edge.

Hunting Act again

Yet another article on badgers and hunts.

In a democracy there isn't any reason why the Telegraph and the Times shouldn't print articles campaigning for the repeal of the Hunting Act every day of the week. What is objectionable is the way they "play the man and not the ball"; trying to discredit us rather than replying to our arguments, and that they are trying to stop the law being enforced rather than to get it repealed. It appears they don't much care whether their efforts to do this mean other welfare legislation stops being effectively enforced as well.

Badgers, unfortunately, are in the frontline because their setts provide convenient refuges for foxes (who don't have any way of knowing hunts aren't supposed to be chasing them and probably don't find it much comfort to be killed by accident rather than on purpose).

In the most recent incident, the RSPCA prosecuted after a hunt "terrier man" was found digging up a badger sett to retrieve a dog who was underground and (on the evidence of his bite injuries) engaged in fighting a badger.

The defence case was that they were not badger diggers (who would be found digging up setts in pursuit of dogs sent underground after the badgers) but were innocently trying to retrieve a terrier who had gone into the sett under his own volition.

In the event they were found guilty of the lesser charge of disturbing a badger sett (for which the evidence was incontrovertible) but not of intentional cruelty.

Would it really be a good thing if no-one dares to prosecute badger diggers so long as they claim to be rescuing dogs they accidentally allowed to enter a sett?

In some ways I think this is all part of a much bigger picture. Mainstream newspapers have become less able to generate the revenue needed to pay for proper investigative journalism. Animal welfare was already seen as a high-interest but low-importance topic so press-releases from interested parties are reproduced with not much attempt at fact-checking.

Fundamentally, I'm afraid, very few people in power think the welfare of animals matters much, which makes it all the more important that everyone with a genuine concern for animals puts aside their differences and works together. It's also essential that we all take part in the internal democracy of the RSPCA and encourage a large and involved society membership to counteract the forces of disinformation.

Cruelty Stats published

No apologies for showing this upsetting photo of a horse who was dumped with her dead foal in an Essex lane last week. She must have suffered extreme pain and fear as she died trying to give birth.

It's highly unlikely that the person who allowed this to happen will be brought to justice as she was not chipped.

If the person responsible was successfully traced they would be prosecuted unless there were very unusual extenuating circumstances — highly unlikely as someone who was incapable to an extent which made them not responsible for their actions would not have been able to arrange transport to dump the animals.

Sad, and fortunately unusual, as this is, it isn't rare for similar fates to happen to other animals whose owners have allowed them to become pregnant without giving any thought to the cost of dealing with things if the worse happens.

An emergency caesarian for a large bitch can cost as much as £700; something that a completely thoughtless owner may not have budgeted to cover in any way.

What possibly happens to bitches on puppy farms, who are seen as mere "livestock", when they get into difficulties giving birth doesn't bear thinking about.

In a typical year our branch provides just over 4,000 low-cost treatments to help owners who do care, but can't afford the full cost of a private vet. The other 169 branches which together cover the whole of England and Wales are responsible for similar services in their own areas.

No single activity can tackle the job of making life better for animals in our country; we need the whole set: low-cost veterinary treatment to help caring owners in genuine need, rehoming for animals who can't stay with their current owners, education to change behaviour, campaigns to change the law and prosecutions to enforce it. 

If those who don't care at all know there will never be any sanctions no amount of education or provision of services will help their victims. We persuade if we can; offer help when needed, but compel if we must.

What do we do all day?

I thought it might interest people to get an idea of what our volunteers actually do all day (and how very hard they work!)

The details in this post are extracted from the productivity targets for our bookshop at 188 Mill Road in Cambridge.

 

 

  

Daily

• 100 fresh items put out, either by filling up spaces and gaps made by sales or by replacing some of the items which have been on the shop floor the longest.
• Mark down the items taken off which were priced under £5 to 30p (paperbacks) or 50p (hardback) and put in one of the sale boxes. Put items which were priced over £5 items in the basement store to try again later or put online.

Weekly

• “Fresh this week” shelf books rotated off and shelved in correct sections, replacing the oldest of the books already in a section (either mark these down for 30p or 50p box or store in basement). This adds roughly 100 more fresh books to the shop floor.
• Window display books changed and and shelved in their sections, replacing older books which should be rotated off.
• 7 boxes of paperbacks rotated off the shelves, replaced with fresh and marked down for 30p sale.
• 3 boxes of hardbacks rotated off the shelves, replaced with fresh and marked down for 50p sale.
• 10 World of Books crates filled with books previously offered in 30p or 50p boxes and damaged books unsuitable to be offered for sale.

(World of Books are the book wholesalers who purchase unsold and damaged books from us to be either sold on or recycled if they are too damaged to read).

Monthly targets

• No more than 5% lost trading days due to lack of volunteer cover (out of potential 7 days per week).
• 25% gift aid sales.
• Monthly takings (including revenue from sale to World of Books) £1,900

The aim is to crank these targets up gradually so that income rises and we can help more animals.

If you are in Cambridge, please visit the shop and support our hard working volunteers. We also need your book donations;  please bear us in mind if you are having a sort out or disposing of books your children have grown out of.

Not on the telly

THANK-YOU to the anonymous RSPCA officers mentioned here for their unsung, hard work.

David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)

I also want to put on record the strong impression that I had in Cumbria that the farming community and the wider rural community have responded in a positive and big way. A lot of mutual support went on and continues to go on. People helped one another, and farmers who were not affected searched for sheep on their neighbours’ holdings when they realised that they were in trouble. That is the country way and it is what we expect, but it was happening.

People who were not connected with farming also lent their support. I will mention one group of people, an organisation that occasionally we have differences of opinion with. It was pointed out to me how profoundly helpful the RSPCA officers in the area had been, lending a hand and getting stuck in, not in strict pursuance of their duties as RSPCA officers but because they cared about the animals and the farmers and wanted to do their bit. 

(Hansard debates: Upland Sheep Farmers, 23rd April)

Start RSPCA Week with a THUNDERCLAP!

RSPCA Week is our major annual fundraising event and we need your help to make it stand out.

Help us start RSPCA week with a bang by showing your support with the Thunderclap app

This basically acts as a virtual "reservoir" that saves a Tweet or facebook status update from you until a specified time when it will release all the stored updates together.

The point of this is that it makes much more impact if 100 people show their support at the same time than it would if the same people tweeted or updated over a few days.

To help the project succeed, follow the steps listed below:

1. Login FIRST to either your twitter or your facebook account.
2. Go to https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/2004-time-to-care-time-to-act
3. Click either the "Support with Twitter" or "Support with Facebook" buttons (NOT the link further down which just shows you more information).
4. You will be offered a standard message which the app will send on your behalf on Monday 29th at the start of RSPCA week. By default this is "It's #RSPCAWeek - #TimetoCareTimetoAct for animal welfare. I've taken an action to support the RSPCA. You can too: thndr.it/ZhzSSV" but you can customise it if you don't like the message although it's most useful if you don't change the words marked by "#" as this makes them stand out on Twitter.
5. Click the "Add my support button"
6. Twitter or Facebook will put up a dialogue box asking your permission to let the app view your PUBLIC details and post a message to your timeline on your behalf. It WON'T give access to your direct messages or password.
7. Click the "Authorize app" button
8. This will add you to the list of supporters and send you back to the app
9. You can choose to share the fact that you've signed up at this stage, but you don't have to - steps 1-8 are enough.

(Wearing my IT support hat, can I point out that you should NEVER give your Twitter or Facebook password to a program or app. The steps shown above are safe because Twitter is responding to a request from you to send some information via Thunderclap and Thunderclap never gets to know your non-public information).

Draft amendments to Dangerous dogs Act

Watch the committee discussion on Parliament TV.

RSPCA at the Old Bailey

This post is part of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the online database of Old Bailey proceedings 1674-1913 online.

As happens today, most of the inspectors' cases would have been dealt with summarily in the local Magistrates Court, so would not come to the attention of the Crown Courts. This means that the Old Bailey reports would only involve RSPCA (or SPCA) inspectors when animal cruelty had escalated into crimes which were viewed more seriously (such as fraud, assaults on the inspectors themselves, or injuries to valuable animals which would be prosecuted as criminal damage). 

One of the interesting things brought out by the trial reports is the systematic way in which the inspectors give their evidence, explaining who they are, why they were present and what they saw happen. This was presumably due to the training they were given,

Being an RSPCA Inspector could be a dangerous business in the nineteenth century:

JAMES PIPER . I am a constable. I was at the Swan public-house at Hanworth on Easter Monday—I was sent there by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to prevent a cock-fight—when I got there I was assaulted—Dean and King participated in the assault, and Conquest also joined in it.
JOHN LORD. I was at the Swan on Easter Monday—Piper and I were assaulted, and severely hurt—I can point out Dean and Coxen as two of the parties, but cannot identify any of the others.
JOSEPH WILLY. I was down at Hanworth on Easter Monday. There was a riot there, and an assault in the garden—I can swear Allen followed us from the garden outside—he was among the rest who assaulted us—I saw him assault Lord—Allen took his brother away from the fight, after Lord was beaten.
(The prisoners received good characters.)
DEAN— GUILTY .
COXEN— GUILTY .
KING— GUILTY .
CONQUEST— GUILTY .
ALLEN— GUILTY .
Of an assault.

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 15 April 2013), May 1838, trial of JOSEPH DEAN RICHARD COXEN JOHN KING RICHARD CONQUEST JOHN ALLEN (t18380514-1209).

2728. ROBERT HEDGES was indicted for unlawfully, maliciously, and feloniously assaulting James Piper, on the 16th of April, 1838, and cutting and wounding him on his head, with intent to maim and disable him.—2nd COUNT, to do him some grievous bodily harm.

MR. PHILLIPS conducted the Prosecution.
JACOB ROBERTS . I am a constable of Hanworth. I went by direction on the 16th of April, 1838, to prevent a cock-fight—there was a great crowd—Piper, a constable, accompanied me—he is dead since, I understand—I saw the prisoner when we entered a little garden adjoining the cock-pit—he was coming from the house close by, with a stick in his hand, about three feet long—he came up behind Piper in a deliberate manner, and struck him on the back of the head with the stick, and knocked him down with a blow sufficient to knock a bullock down—he made his escape, and was not taken till lately—there were about two hundred people at the cockfight—I and the officers were assaulted by different people—there was myself, the head borough of the parish, and three of the constables of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
HENRY THOMAS . I am secretary to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals—I knew Piper—his christian name was James.
GUILTY of an Assault only. Aged 36.— Confined Three Months.

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 15 April 2013), October 1839, trial of ROBERT HEDGES (t18391021-2728).

An inspector helps in the apprehension of an armed killer

682. WALTER ALFRED HARGAN (27) was indicted for, and charged on the Coroner's inquisition with, the wilful murder of William Lambert.
MESSRS. HORACE AVORY and MUIR Prosecuted; 'MESSRS. GEOGHEGAN and
LEVER Defended.
GEORGE SUTTON (Policeman J 29) produced and proved plans of the locality in question.

WILLIAM KNIFTON . I am an officer of the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals—I live at 61, Hertford Road—on 30th July I saw the prisoner in the Downham Road, running towards Islington—a crowd was running after him calling, "Stop thief!" and that he had shot somebody down the road—I followed, and got close to him—he pulled a revolver out from his inside breast pocket, and pointed it at me, and said, "I will"—the crowd began to throw stones at him—I walked with him about fifty yards, when we stopped running—I advised him to get into a cab with me or else they would kill him—he said, "All right, I will get one"—at the same time Newman sprang on to his arms—I then caught hold of Newman, and we all three fell to the ground—the three of us got hold of the revolver; Newman got it from him—the crowd began kicking him, and some jumped on him, put a rope round his neck, and all manner—we put him in a cart which was going towards the station, where we stopped.
Cross-examined. He pointed the revolver at me as he went along, not at anyone else—I first saw him about 350 yards from the corner of the Downham Road—I was going to No. 56—I saw the prisoner going towards the Southgate Road, 200 yards from where he was stopped—he turned to the right by the baker's—I was with him five minutes—I went with him to the corner of the Southgate Road, 285 yards further than No. 56, where he was stopped, and very nearly 600 yards from the Hertford Road—No. 56 is near the Culvert Road—he was coming the nearest way from the Wagon and Horses to the Southgate Road.
THOMAS GENTLEMAN . I am a labourer, living in Hertford Road, Kingsland—I searched the prisoner's pockets—I found six loaded cartridges—I handed them to the police.
JOHN COCHRANE (Policeman). At 4.30 on 30th July, in consequence of information, I went to the Hertford Road and the corner of Downham Road by the baker's shop—I saw two men lying upon the pavement dead about twelve yards from the shop—I afterwards formally charged the prisoner at the station with the wilful murder of two men by shooting them with a revolver—I cautioned him in the usual manner that anything he said might be given in evidence against him—he said, "I decline to say anything about it."

JOHN HERD GORDON . I live at 364, Kingsland Road—I am a registered medical practitioner—on the afternoon of 30th July I was fetched by a policeman to Hertford Road—I saw two bodies lying on the pavement—I examined them afterwards at the mortuary—Lambert had a bullet wound on the right side of the head—a bullet had entered to the left of Wheeler's right ear—that was the cause of death in each case—I afterwards made a post-mortem examination.
Cross-examined. Both were physically strong men—there was evidence of alcohol in both cases.
The prisoner received a good character.
GUILTY of Manslaughter. There was another indictment for the wilful murder of John Wheeler, to which he PLEADED GUILTY in the hearing of the JURY, to manslaughter, and they found that verdict. MR. AVORY, for the prosecution, offered no evidence as to murder. Twenty Years' Penal Servitude in each case, the sentences to be concurrent.

 Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 15 April 2013), September 1890, trial of WALTER ALFRED HARGAN (27) (t18900908-682).

Cruelty to a pony resulting in her death

838. THOMAS ALFRED HEMMINGS (17) , Feloniously killing a mare, the goods of Susan Holland.
MR. NOLAN Prosecuted.
SUSAN HOLLAND . I am a widow, and keep a lodging house at 70, Vincent Street, Westminster—before April 15th the prisoner was in my employment—I have a stable at the rear of my house—I had a chestnut mare—I had had her for about fifteen years—she was pensioned off and did no work—the prisoner was with me for about three months—I gave him notice to leave on Tuesday, April 14th, because there were complaints about him from the servants, and he would not do his work—I do not know if I said anything to him about his temper, but he had a very bad one—on

WILLIAM GREEN . I am an inspector in the employment of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals—on April 19th I went to Mrs. Holland's stables—I saw this mare—she was lying down and was in great agony—I examined her and found that she was badly wounded in the region of the anus—while examining her she fell down—in my opinion the injuries may have been caused by a sharp instrument like this fork; there were several hairs on it corresponding to the hairs of the mare, and it was spotted with blood all down—the stable was quite clean; no manure had been passed—next day I saw the prisoner in Rochester Row—I said, "I am an officer in the employment of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and am making inquiries in regard to injuries received by Mrs. Holland's pony"—he said, "She did not see me do it"—I said, "Mrs. Holland says she heard the pony kicking and she came round and saw you leaving the stable with the fork in your hand"'—he said, "That is a lie"—I said, "She said she saw blood under the pony's legs and pointed it out to you"—he said, "That is another of her lies"—I said, "The veterinary surgeon said he asked you if you did it"—he said, "That is another lie"—he said that the injury might have been caused by the crupper.
The prisoner, in his defence, said that when Mrs. Holland asked him about the blood on the straw he said he did not know anything about it; that he was cleaning the stable out; that the door came to: that the pony turned round and then kicked and hit some harness that was there, but that he had not injured it. GUILTY — Twenty months' hard labour.

 Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 15 April 2013), October 1903, trial of THOMAS ALFRED HEMMINGS (17) (t19031019-838).

Although the prosecution seem to have chosen the crime of "felonious killing" as one likely to involve heavier penalties than cruelty, this pony doesn't seem to have had a significant money value and was being kept more or less as a pet.

Animals' Friend Society

Finally there's an interesting sighting of Louis Gompertz, co-founder of the RSPCA, during the period after he had left the Society to found the vegan Animals' Friend Society.

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 15 April 2013), September 1849, trial of JOHN PARRY HENNING HENRY ROBERTS THOMAS CROTON (t18490917-1803).

In this trial Gompertz and Henry Thomas, Secretary of the RSPCA give evidence against a defendant who was fraudulently raising funds in the name of the Animals' Friend Society using a soon to be all too familiar sales pitch:

THOMAS STEVENSON. I am a surgeon, in Upper Gloucester-street. Henning called on me about March—some one had called before, and left this book of the Animals' Friend Society (produced)—Henning gave me a second one, as well as a book of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to compare the merits of the two, and to show how little the Royal Society had done with such large means, and how much he had done with such small means...

Feral Cats

Cats who have not been handled as kittens will generally not be willing to live in close contact with people as adults. For this reason it is usually preferable for them to be neutered and released as the alternative is keeping them permanently confined.

This is Moses, who has just been castrated and also treated for an abscess on his face and blood tested for FIV/FeLV. You can just see the wound under his right eye where the vets flushed and cleaned the abscess.

Book Signing Event at 188 Mill Road Easter Saturday

Joan Court will be signing copies of her new book, Animals Betrayed,  at the RSPCA bookshop, 188 Mill road, Cambridge on Easter Saturday March 30th between 2  and 5 pm.

Copies of the book will be available to buy at £12.50 and Joan is donating £4.50 per copy to the RSPCA Cambridge Spring Appeal.

During 2012 the RSPCA branch animal clinic provided 3,799 low cost treatments for pets whose owners could not afford a private vet and the group rehomed a total of 150 animals.

The branch aims to double RSPCA membership and regular giving as part of its plan to sustain its work of preventing cruelty and neglect. 

Joan thoroughly supports their efforts as her many years working with low-income families have made her very aware of the devastating impact it can have on children if their pets fall ill and there is no money available to get them treated:

“People who are already living on a knife-edge can’t be expected to budget — they love their animals but they can’t put money aside for pet insurance or savings. Animals may be their only comfort, so it’s impossible to lecture and say they shouldn’t have pets if they can’t afford them. Cambridge RSPCA do wonders with not enough support and I urge everyone who cares about animals to pick up a form at the charity shop and become a member.”

Did you know?

Volunteers at the RSPCA bookshop, on Mill Road, sort and shelve nearly 5 tons of donated books each year. That’s a lot of potential reading bargains!

Animal Welfare or Animal Rights?

In 1913 the RSPCA published pamphlets discussing the rights of animals and no-one seems to have thought this was anything untoward.

Today,  one of the frequent criticisms made by those who claim that the Society has "lost its way" is that we have been taken over by the supporters of animal rights and that we ought to be forced to promote animal welfare instead.

I have to say that I doubt whether many of the people who claim they no longer support the RSPCA for this reason are a great loss.

Leaving that to one side, I think it's essential that we take the initiative to reclaim the concept of "welfare" instead of letting it be used as a way to attack initiatives to make life better for animals.

"Welfare" is practical; if I look at a cat and see he has an abscess, I need to take practical steps to get him treated. If I'm caring for a rabbit I need to understand that rabbits are obligate fibre eaters and must get most of their calories from hay and grass or risk potentially distressing and fatal gut and jaw disorders. All this is based on knowledge and science, rather than abstract reasoning.

"Rights" or, if you prefer, duties toward animals, are more theoretical. How should we weigh up the conflicting needs of different kinds of animals? Is it right to give higher priority to animals who share our lives, such as cats and dogs, on the basis that "charity begins at home"? Is it better for animals to have short and happy lives rather than never to have been born at all?

It's nonsense to say we can usefully focus entirely on practical information because we still have to make choices about the way we go about applying that knowledge. Conversely, someone who can't accept that the ecological niche of some animals is in human society, because he has a romantic ideal of "nature" and despises scientific knowledge, is liable to be worse than useless.

We need both kinds of knowledge; practical and theoretical.

I'm sorry to sound rather like a stuck record, but this is exactly what the RSPCA should be for, because its size and the varied talents of its staff and volunteers make it possible to engage on all the levels needed to generate real benefits for animals.

Failed RSPCA hunt prosecution — in 1910!

I wonder if people will look back on the RSPCA prosecutions of 2012 in a hundred years time and feel the same amazement that anyone thought this kind of behaviour towards animals was acceptable as a "sport".

This seems to have been something of a test case, having been referred up to the High Court for a ruling on whether there was any case to answer; the point being that it tested how far the 1900 Act, which made cruelty to captive non-domestic animals an offence, also protected non-domestic animals kept in captivity and released for the purpose of being hunted with dogs.

Marshall Hall, the barrister defending the hunt, was something of a celebrity lawyer having led the defense in many notorious murder trials including the "Brides in the Bath" and the "Green bicycle case". 

Before and after

We don't very often have a definite demonstration of a result of what we do, so I thought these two photos made a nice change. They really are the same cat.

Much better now!

Rupert looking decidedly the worse for wear

What a day!

Pepper and his 5 brothers
are looking for a home.

Got off to a less than brilliant start by breaking the lock on my own back door so tomorrow morning's task is to unscrew it so I can get into the garden without having to walk round the side of the house from the front door.  Garden cats are not amused by this deterioration in their catering service.

Next joy was a call from Teresa at our Burleigh st shop to say the electronic lock on the safe had packed up so they couldn't retrieve the float to give change. Cycle over with change, then in to open up at the bookshop, to find we'd had a really fantastically huge donation of books the previous day, all gift aided so that we should be able to reclaim 25p in the pound on every sale we make.

By the end of the day Pat, Katie and I were nearly on our knees, but there are now only 4 more large boxes to sticker and price. Look out for lots of art, philosophy, cookery and craft books going out over the next few weeks at 188 Mill Road, also an excellent selection of paperbacks.

Possible extension of breed-specific legislation?

Gavin Grant explains why extension of breed bans to other types of dogs would be bad animal welfare and wouldn't help solve the problems with dogs in the UK.

This is a perfect illustration of the way legislation can impact on the work of the RSPCA.

External Pressures on the RSPCA

The previous diagram aimed to show how the RSPCA tries to act outwards into society to improve the way animals are treated.

This one shows the opposite: external pressures constraining what the RSPCA can do and helping or hindering its work.

The welfare diagram

If you take the time to explore the central RSPCA website www.rspca.org.uk or its companion political animal website, the predominant take-away message is possibly: "We're doing loads of stuff and we're knackered." This diagram is a first attempt at summarising how the various bits fit together and explaining why we need to get across the importance of the totality of our activities, instead of being manoeuvred into the trap of thinking we need to pick out certain core functions and concentrate on just those.

In the welfare diagram activities aimed at changing the wider society are on the outside and coloured blue. Practical welfare activities are inside: green for welfare services that directly benefit individual animals and red for enforcement of animal protection legislation. Scientific assessment and knowledge is at the centre of the diagram and underpins the other activities, while being itself continually updated by feedback from monitoring of the practical works. There's a continual two-way flow of information between the services and the activities aimed at changes in the wider world.

Update 14/2/13
Latest RSPCA Science Department Report (PDF download) is just out and documents what the scientific assessment involves.