RSPCA's new strategy

RE: RSPCA's new strategy

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 20:10:49 GMT

[quote userid="8991" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/29642/rspca-s-new-strategy/228225#228225"]As for the RSPCA taking cats off grannies, they have no power of seizure.[/quote]

Yee..es. In practice, the RSPCA tells the police "seize that animal" and the police say "Right you are".

RE: RSPCA's new strategy

David Bailey — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 02:26:14 GMT

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-concludes-regulatory-case-into-governance-at-the-rspca

this has been brewing for some time now. The charity commission has been investigating the organisation for around 6 years now. Changes are being catalysed by the Pandemic and the reduction in board members/ directors is an unusual step in charity governance change as they normally tend to shorten the terms of any one member and increase outside member numbers to dilute and break up established toxic ‘ group think’ that can set in , in board members who have become entrenched in one place for too long, feeling comfortable in that role, and dominate boards that have one or two dominant voices that drown out any dissenting thoughts from any other high-street-hair-do and Rotarian tie wearing nodding dogs.

I have experienced this as a board member of the uspca where I was parachuted in to investigate the activities of the chief executive who subsequently received a two year suspended jail sentence for fraud. I resigned after he pleaded guilty and only after he pleaded guilty.

one rspca criminal case I was instructed in as a defence expert involved the perverse pursuit of a final year vet student by the rspca in 2017. The evidence didn’t support the public interest test or the likelihood of a successful outcome. Yet the rspca persisted. The CPS rightly intervened and halted proceedings the day prior to trial as we were able to persuade the CPS to tell the rspca to discontinue. This was unprecedented. The rspca has limited accountability as a private prosecutor and is regulated as an organisation for structure and governance and not for accountability for downstream decisions ( this is a difference between regulation and governance) and this has, imho reflected in poor prosecution decisions that have littered the press consistently over the last ten years. The cps by contrast tends to avoid actively seeking out publicity generated from emotive cases and has a strict, almost archaic system of regulation that tends to focus on strict bottom up regulation( not governance) where the rspca has been forced to address a failing top down system of governance that has failed the creed and ethos of the once great charity over the last decade.

as a final share.... google rspca and Rachelle Peel. Horses were seized and shot the next day yet £200,000 in phantom stable fees and boarding for 18 months and vet treatment for dead horses were slipped into the costs order that was over turned but only at appeal after we analysed boarding records that appear to have been fabricated.

I do hope this organisation turns itself around and learns the difference between minimal standards of external governance imposed good practice and effective internal self regulation. Until this is demonstrated in the rspca, I welcome the CPS involvement. Now the better regulated criminal trials will be replaced with the inevitable problem of who pays for it and for that the rspca must be recognised and cautiously praised for spending very large sums of money on private criminal trials where they have to deal with a unique problem to animal cruelty cases- the evidence is living and needs to be paid for while awaiting trial. However using the criminal justice system to self promote and encourage donations regardless of the facts of the case does need to be put in check and hopefully a balance of alignment can be reached between the two organisations; the cps and rspca working in tandem.

RE: RSPCA's new strategy

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 09:02:10 GMT

[quote userid="8991" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/29642/rspca-s-new-strategy/228225#228225"]I don't think this is a progressive step.[/quote]

Interesting.

[quote userid="8991" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/29642/rspca-s-new-strategy/228225#228225"]As for the RSPCA taking cats off grannies, they have no power of seizure.[/quote]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37987213

Not what was said in a commons hearing in 2016/17.

Evidence heard included testimony from the Self-Help Group (SHG) for farmers, pet owners and others experiencing difficulties with the RSPCA which said some people felt alienated by the charity's "targeting of vulnerable, ill or elderly people" and the removal of their animals.

From memory, there was a time a few years ago when you could hardly pick up a paper without reading of some story where the RSPCA had strong-armed its way into some (vulnerable-sounding) person's property and removed their animal(s).

It certainly felt to me lie the charity was becoming far too aggressive.

But yes, I hadn't thought of all that legal experience the RSPCA has (which might go to waste), and the likelihood that the CPS will not prosecute when perhaps it should.

I don't really know what I am talking about, but perhaps the CPS should hire some ex-RSPCA legal staff.

RE: RSPCA's new strategy

Jill Butterworth — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 08:40:23 GMT

There is also a huge (years) court backlog currently due to Covid. If the criterion for prosecution is raised by CPS involvement, I can't see how it will be a progressive step, especially in the light of different but ongoing discussions about animal sentience. It is well acknowledged that the RSPCA used to nurse back to health some horrendous cases in order to use them for marketing and recruitment. Euthanasia is not the worst way to prevent animal suffering, many riding schools, for example, have had to euphemistically 'reduce numbers' to survive, but the wastage is abhorrent, not unlike the lack of freezer capacity for animals stuck in the Brexit supply chain.

RE: RSPCA's new strategy

Sarah Keir — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 11:19:48 GMT

I think this reset for the RSPCA is necessary and well overdue. After all, they stand for 'prevention' not 'prosecution' but David is right about the CPS - we cannot expect the same level of commitment to prosecution by the CPS as what has gone before.

RE: RSPCA's new strategy

David Mills — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 20:45:39 GMT

This has pretty much been rubber stamped, interesting they mention they may still bring private prosecutions, very different to what I've been told by people working for them.

I don't think this is a progressive step. I think it's almost entirely financial. That's not to say its wrong, but there is a whole department in the RSPCA that knows the law inside out around prosecutions, and a wealth of expertise in this area that simply doesn't exist in the CPS. the CPS bring very few AW prosecutions. This experience is hard to replicate and has been built up over years. The things about private prosecutions is that they don't need to meet the CPS in the public interest criterion.

As for the CPS more generally, like aby government body it is chronically underfunded, overstretched, and many prosecutions fall becauee of procedural errors. The books by The Secret Barrister detail these at some length.

So I think the impression you have got about this being progressive is wrong. I think it's a step back. As for the RSPCA taking cats off grannies, they have no power of seizure. That has to be done by a police constable under section 18 and the animals are seized as evidence in ongoing welfare cases. The RSPCA get the over emotional brunt of it, but a section 18 notice will normally need a veterinary surgeons involvement do it is not a light step and serious welfare concerns must be present, granny or otherwise. As it should be.

As for working with non RSPCA vets and practices, it remains to be seen what this looks like as the details are currently vague. The closure of Putney and various other centres doesn't augur well for the RSPCAs finances short or long term, and the fees associated with treating animals at private vets or other charities may be significant.