RSPCA-NOT-WHAT-THEY-SEEM: ANIMAL 24/7

RSPCA - ONE OF THE RICHEST CHARITIES IN THE UK

In its ‘RSPCA policies on animal welfare’ it states under its Objects of the RSPCA that ‘The charitable objects of the RSPCA are to promote kindness and to prevent or suppress cruelty to animals

The RSPCA’s vision is, ‘To work for a world in which all humans respect and live in harmony with all other members of the animal kingdom

Under its Mission Statement, the RSPCA declares ‘The RSPCA as a charity will, by all lawful means, prevent cruelty, promote kindness to and alleviate suffering.’

And under their General Principles, the RSPCA states ‘The general principles on which the RSPCA operates, derived from extensive scientific evidence, is based on the fact that vertebrates and some invertebrates are sentient, and can feel pain and distress.’

What happened to all those honorable and admirable objects, visions, statements and principles when RSPCA inspectors arrived at an address in South Wales and proceeded to slaughter ten German Shepherd dogs with a captive bolt?

Thursday 14 January 2010

ANIMAL 24/7 - FRAUD

Shh, they'll never notice!!

Some eagle eyed viewers watching the animal 24/7 series in December, noticed that all was not right. In several of the RSPCA cases, the before and after animals were not the same. This is one of the complaint responses.

Our Complaint:

10th Dec, Animals 24/7 episode 9. Used two different cats and told viewers it was the same cat. One had white on face and legs, other was blackfaced and white only on feet. Fraud"

Their Reply:

Subject: Animal 24:7

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2010 12:46:06 +0000

Thank you for contacting the BBC about Animal 24:7 broadcast on 10 December 2009 and please accept our apologies for the delay in replying.

I contacted True North Productions who make this programme for BBC Daytime. They contacted RSPCA Inspector, Stuart Wainwright who confirmed the following:

The female cat rescued from the house was taken to the vet, had kittens which died but she survived (following your complaint we asked the independent vet surgery's responsible for looking after this cat and their computerised records confirmed this).

As per the film the rescued cat was then neutered and sent to the cattery.

Two months later Stuart Wainwright contacted the cattery to check on the rescued cat and to ask if True North could film an update.

The cattery agreed to this and in September 2008 we visited and the staff directed us to what they believed was the rescued cat.

As you're probably aware the rescued cat was in a very bad state when Inspector Wainwright rescued her eight weeks earlier and he is involved in so many different cases. Therefore he didn't stop to question if it was the same cat, and it was on this basis that True North shot the sequence.

Following your complaint True North immediately contacted the cattery's owners. After we explained the feedback we had received regarding this staff then realised that on the day of filming they had more than one black and white cat and had got them mixed up.

The RSPCA Inspector checked his log number and confirmed the rescued cat was alive and went to that cattery.

I would like to thank you for drawing this matter to our attention as this error should have been picked up at the production stages and for that we sincerely apologise. True North will re-edit the sequence but still make it clear to viewers that the rescued cat was alive and well and was

successfully re-housed following a period in the cattery.

In all the years of filming for this series this kind of mix up has never happened, to the best of our knowledge. Going forward we will all be clearly be more mindful of the potential for such things to happen in the future.

Yours sincerely

Carla-Maria

BBC Executive Producer

Do you think they think we are stupid?