Angrywith the RSPCA/Council dog wardens

hammy_the_hammer

the unfortunate thing is that i'd put the figure at over 90% of the people who don't really care that much for a pet dog once they've had it for anything between 20minutes and a week. somehow in this country we need to have some kind of licensing scheme that will deter all but the 10% of good pet owners from keeping them.
it truly is a national shame

yenom_2

It is such a shame.

My neighbour left their poor dog for 2 weeks whilst they were sunning themselves in Ibiza, they had someone come round to feed him in morning, no walks or love.

Phoned RSPCA who didnt do anything as dog was being fed!!

I also explaned that they never walk him, shout at him, and thats from what I can tell.

There should be more help for animals who are in this situation.

I currently give money to RSPCA, any charities that others feel will make better use of the money ?

Bossyboots

yenom wrote:

I currently give money to RSPCA, any charities that others feel will make better use of the money ?

Definitely the Dogs Trust. Or, save your money and donate food to the RSPCA if you can. Our local clinic regularly collects outside Tesco and I am more than happy to buy a large amount of dog and cat food but I will not give them money direct.

pboae

yenom wrote:

It is such a shame.

My neighbour left their poor dog for 2 weeks whilst they were sunning themselves in Ibiza, they had someone come round to feed him in morning, no walks or love.

Phoned RSPCA who didnt do anything as dog was being fed!! (snip)

Unfortunately that's the law. A dog must have food, water, shelter and vet treatment. That's all.

So if someone chooses to keep their dog outside with a piece of corrogated metal leant against a fence for 'shelter', with a tray of rainwater and some food scraps thrown out once a day. Then legally the RSPCA cannot touch them.

If they shout at them, or never speak to them, it makes no difference. I'm not the biggest fan of the RSPCA, but at the end of the day they can only work within the laws they have, and in instances like the one you describe, their hands are tied.


Re: which charity to donate to, personally I give to my local no-kill sanctuary and also to smaller charities who are having specific problems.

Round here (Yorkshire) the pounds are always over flowing, and I support charities like HWAR (http://www.hwanimalrescue.org/) a rescue which take dogs from our pounds when their time is up and they are due to be killed. They transport them further South to their no-kill sanctuary and re-home them.

Also StaffyCross (http://www.staffycross.org) who are trying to help with the huge numbers of Staffy cross breeds being put to sleep in the pounds. Many sanctuaries won't even take staffy (or GSD) crosses from the pounds as they are so hard to rehome.

Many Tears (I can't link to it from here, but if you put many tears into google you'll find it) who take in the dogs dumped by the puppy farmers.

The Oldies Club (http://www.oldies.org.uk/) who help rehome old dogs from many rescues.

and finally GDAS (http://www.danes.org.uk/) The Great Dane rescue who take in other Giant Breeds as well. We got our St. Bernard from them, after they nursed him back from the brink. (He had originally been seized by the RSPCA, so they do pull their finger out occasionally).

IM(NS)HO a small donation to a small charity will go a lot further than to a behemoth like the RSPCA. If they have enough money spare to send me endless junk mail and pens, they don't need my cash that desperately.

yenom_2

Thanks, for the advice, will now look into better ways of spending the money..

I know the RSPCAs hands are tied, but the law needs to be changed- (obviously), cant understand why this has not been done, although do understand that you cant measure a dogs happiness etc

pboae

There is a law due to go through next year (Animal Welfare Act) which will help a bit. The RSPCA will be able to prosecute if an animal is 'just' being neglected, whereas now they have to wait until they are actually suffering as a result of neglect. But the Act has been watered down so much since it was first suggested that it won't be the huge milestone people had been hoping for :-(

susiesue_2

i have read all your threads and i think we all agree that the OP has a heart of gold.

i may not speak for all of us but i had a thought.

if the OP gets landed with a hugh vets bill and they normally are, and the OP intends to keep the dog....

why don't we all chip in to help with the bill??

any one else agree? just give what we feel we can afford.

and if she keeps the dog, isuggest she call it martin :j

overbudget

I think the vet is wrong that the dog has to go to a pound for 7 days. On a couple of occasions when I have found a stray dog and contacted the police they have taken my details and said it was perfectly OK for me to keep the dog at home as long as it stayed there for 7 days in case an owner came forward. The dog's details were circulated to dog warden, police stations, pounds but the dog itself stayed with me. On all occasions luckily the very worried owners came forward within a day.

If you want to take the dog home from the vet check the legal position - I think you can as finder - as long as you don't rehome him for 7 days. He certainly stands a much better chance being cared for by you than in a pound.

Best of luck and well done on what you have done so far. :T

pboae

A stray dog has to go to the dog warden (and therefore the pound) for 7 days before it can be legally passed on to a new owner. The police have no authority over it. Their only responsibility is to provide kennels for strays outside the dog warden's hours of duty. You can register an interest in the dog, and say you would like after the 7 days, but no-one (dog warden, police, pound) are obliged to honour it.

The alternative to that is the so-called 28 day rule. If you find a dog, and notify the police and dog warden, the dog warden can officially identify you as the 'finder'. Then you can keep the dog for 28 days, and if it is not claimed after that, it becomes yours, but you may still be obliged to pay the pound the same release fee as if they had kept it. It is at the dog warden's discretion whether they will nominate you as the 'finder'. In this way the dog has still been officially handed over to the dog warden, but they are permitting it to remain in your care.

There are some added complications to this, during the limbo period of 7/28 days whoever has the dog is only allowed to give it essential vet treatment (i.e. pain relief etc). As you need the owners permission for anything else. Things like resetting broken bones are a grey area, mainly because if that was classed as essential the pounds would be obliged to get stray dog's injuries fixed, and a lot of them won't do that because it costs money.

Also, local councils can vary these regulations to some extent (the 28 day rule in law is a 'reasonable period' so a local council could declare it as a shorter or longer period).

The most important thing is to keep on the right side of the dog warden (even if they are obnoxious or unhelpful, and that depends entirely on the person, lots of dog wardens are lovely and truly on the side of the dog). It is the dog warden that has the final say in most of these things, and it is very difficult without their cooperation.

waaag

I am so pleased it was a caring animal lover, you, who found the poor dog. It is disgraceful that the rspca and dog wardens took that attitude...and I agree with the posts that say to complain,and also change your vet, too, they are all a disgrace, and do tell your story to the papers too. It makes me feel mad and sick to hear about these situations. People who lead you to believe they are there to help, then infact don't help and display indifference....

A while ago I had similar situation, yobs had shot a poor dove, in the town centre, it was freezing on the river where it was and no-one (animal charities) would help or come out, not even some young lad who'd had a local page spread in the news, says he went around checking the welfare of the birds, and was on a college animal welfare course he did not even return my call, not even to this day, though i'd left instructions/details on his answerphone not once but twice, in the end i had to come home, get a brolly and go back, 5 mile journey each way by which time poor dove had died in the water. I intended to lean over the side of the bank and fish it out with my opened brolly, its the only thing i could have though of doing, to try to save it.

Back to the dog, I feel exactly like you, and would have done the same, if you keep the dog he will have the best 'mum' in the world! I wish you all the best, and would like to say thankyou for being such a kind person and animal lover.

Also many thanks for the links in the replies, I will know where to look when i need replacements (I have 2 older rescues). Oh and keep us all posted with your progress!