Farms/wildlife parks - reporting cruelty

This has probably already been discussed at length but am not sure what to put in the search bar to find appropriate threads.

If you believe a farm/zoo etc is not taking appropriate care of the animals what should you do?

I'm going to contact the RSPCA, but am wondering whether to contact the place concerned as well and if there is anything else I can do.

What I saw was absolutely awful and I came away feeling sick.

Oh no, that doesnt sound good. Sorry no advice other than to say I would contact the RSPCA too, I hope they do something about it.

I would contact all of relevant authorities, the local council, DEFRA, RSPCA - problem being they will all inform them they are coming :roll: bizarre logic I think but, they will tell them so if it's a conditions they are being kept in case they will inevitably have a clean up etc prior to the visit, is there anyway you can take pictures to support you, that way if they turn up and it's all clean etc you can advise of what you saw.

If it's cruelty in the sense of physical abuse, I would call the RSPCA/Police and demand action if it was bad, you are doing your duty reporting it, they should respect that and act on it.

If you think talking to the 'manager' or something will work obviously try that aswell and advise them that you will contact the local paper and the relevant authorities if action is not taken immediately.

Are you not able to go into what you've seen - (((hugs))) to you - it's horrible how other's actions can affect you in a horrible way.

I'd also find out if it's publicly owned; some of these places are owned by local authorities. If this is the case I would write directly to the Cabinet member with responsibility for that area, at the local authority. If there's a sure fire way to get things done in councils, it's to get the elected member in charge of it on the case! They tend not to be too defensive because they are representing 'the people' rather than directly managing the facility, so they are often well placed to put a few rockets up where rockets are needed...

Thanks for all the helpful info.

It's probably nowhere near as bad as I've made it sound but it shocked me. We've taken the kids to quite a few local wildlife places, farm parks, zoos and the animals have always been well cared for, even if some of the accomodation left a little to be desired perhaps.

We've never been to this place before, and I have no intention of returning there either. Mainly, I think it's probably a case of neglect rather than intentional cruelty tbh but it all seems cruel to me.

In general, all the animals had no stimulation and their water was filthy. Several of the animals seemed in very bad condition - a chicken with bald patches, a sheep whose horn was bleeding & the blood staining the side of his face to name but two.

The most horrible for me was the bunnies:
-all kept on woodshavings & fed muesli mix with no hay available from at least 10am until we left at 3.30pm.

-a french lop plus a smaller bun were lucky enough to get access to hay in the afternoon when they were moved from one enclosure to another. When I say moved, this consisted of them being dangled by their scruff the whole way and then dropped in from a height of 2-3 ft. The two buns had also come from their own separate living quarters, and dumped into this new place - so they weren't bonded and will no doubt be split again now. :?

Several bunnies were stained yellow with urine spray, some had bald patches on the back of the neck (too much humping or unneutered buns put together?), the frenchie had several wart type growths on his ears and several bald patches

Enclosures were far too small & they seem to have made no attempt to enrich any of the environments or provide hiding places.