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Can you help me? RSPCA experiences.

Jenova

Wise Old Thumper
RU, I need your help. :wave:

I am a trustee for my branch of the RSPCA. I am going to be contacting the head of the rabbit welfare survey in the RSPCA about educating inspectors on rabbit welfare for the whole of the country. I need details of your experiences when dealing with the RSPCA and rabbits.

First of all I need to explain a few things. The RSPCA are struggling like every other charity right now. Without enough funds we do not have enough inspectors out and about. Furthermore a new scheme means that most inspectors cannot choose their own cases but rely on a national switchboard to give them cases based on urgency. So I know that sometimes you may have rung up and no one has gone round, that's not what I want to know right now.

What I want to know is times when an inspector has gone round to see a rabbit/owner you have reported.

If possible I need dates (as specific as possible) and where in the country this happened, what was said by you to the RSPCA, what the inspector did and what the overall outcome was. (Please feel free to PM me if you don't want to post on a public forum, or just post as much as you are comfortable posting)

The general vibe I get from members of this forum is that you are not happy with the RSPCA. That inspectors seem to think that if a rabbit has shelter, food and water that is enough. Of course a hutch is not enough if the rabbit cannot stand or hop in it and food is not enough without hay. We all know the reasons for this so I won't go it here. I have heard of inspectors not caring about rabbits in small hutches or even filthy hutches. I need to know if my vibe is true. Please can you let me know of your good and bad experiences. When rabbits have been helped and when they have been ignored.

I have also just remembered about the Horsford rabbits which went on to be rescued by PACT, so if anyone has any details on what the RSPCA did/didn't do in regards to this case that would be appreciated too.

I want to get all this information and then contact the head of the rabbit campaign to enforce that inspectors need training on the welfare needs of rabbits. I want to let them know if there is a negative view on the RSPCA so that we can change that, but ultimately so that we can help rabbits.

Thank you all for your help.
 
Hi regarding the Horsford situation I would suggest you contact PACT directly and ask them about their experience. I got the impression that the situation was known about for some time but that the RSPCA let it continue and it was only due to the ill health of the owner and the actions of PACT and others that the rabbits were eventually removed. Here is the link to he original PACT thread:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...uired-UPDATE-ON-NEEDS-P270&highlight=horsford
 
I deal with the inspectors in our area quite regularly and most go out of their way to see rabbits are given as much regard as other animals ...

However that my feeling is that a lot of the problems lie with the switchboard system not prioritising calls properly . They often dont pass on details about rabbits ...
 
I deal with the inspectors in our area quite regularly and most go out of their way to see rabbits are given as much regard as other animals ...

However that my feeling is that a lot of the problems lie with the switchboard system not prioritising calls properly . They often dont pass on details about rabbits ...

Im a Trustee/welfare co-ordinator of our local branch, and i totally agree with Angie here. Im sure alot of the problems are there aren't enough Inspectors to go out to all the calls. I know calls are prioritised by the switchboard, so if someone reports a dog drowning in a lake, and a bunny in a tiny hutch, its obvious which is going to be seen to first.

As far as im aware, by the end of 2012 the RSPCA will have its own minimum hutch requirements and such like. The lady who is running the rabbit campaign seems very knowledgable and i believe she has her own rabbits.

On a forum, you generally hear all the negatives of the RSPCA, its very rare someone will post a 'thank you RSPCA' post.

I think its a fantastic idea what you are doing, and if you get any response that will be brilliant :love: I do agree alot of Inspectors do need more basic training in rabbit care, everything seems to be classed as more urgent for cats/dogs, when really every animal equal.

ETA: Regarding our area, if branches do not have space for animals they are put into private boarding. Private boarding is only used for Inspectorate case animals. In our region all the private boarding spaces are full, you are talking hundreds of spaces here, not just 1 or 2. If the spaces are full, and animals aren't getting rehomed, its hard for the RSPCA to do a large rescue. The list is endless, but many members of the public don't think ahead of what they are reporting.
 
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So far only good replies. :D
I guess that's a good thing and I'm glad to hear of your relationship with the inspectors, bunnymadhouse. I constantly hear people posting that the RSPCA won't help etc, etc. So where is the proof?
Is this just something that people have been saying for so long it's stuck? If this is the case, if no one actually has any negative experiences then perhaps you should stop saying that the RSPCA won't do anything? Otherwise I need to know or I can't help. :wave:
 
Im a Trustee/welfare co-ordinator of our local branch, and i totally agree with Angie here. Im sure alot of the problems are there aren't enough Inspectors to go out to all the calls. I know calls are prioritised by the switchboard, so if someone reports a dog drowning in a lake, and a bunny in a tiny hutch, its obvious which is going to be seen to first.

As far as im aware, by the end of 2012 the RSPCA will have its own minimum hutch requirements and such like. The lady who is running the rabbit campaign seems very knowledgable and i believe she has her own rabbits.

On a forum, you generally hear all the negatives of the RSPCA, its very rare someone will post a 'thank you RSPCA' post.

I think its a fantastic idea what you are doing, and if you get any response that will be brilliant :love: I do agree alot of Inspectors do need more basic training in rabbit care, everything seems to be classed as more urgent for cats/dogs, when really every animal equal.

ETA: Regarding our area, if branches do not have space for animals they are put into private boarding. Private boarding is only used for Inspectorate case animals. In our region all the private boarding spaces are full, you are talking hundreds of spaces here, not just 1 or 2. If the spaces are full, and animals aren't getting rehomed, its hard for the RSPCA to do a large rescue. The list is endless, but many members of the public don't think ahead of what they are reporting.

I completely agree with you.
There looks to be a lot of positive improvements up and coming for rabbits within the RSPCA but I'm now not sure if the document I have is meant to be private so just in case I won't elaborate on what's on there.

I just wanted to see if there really was a problem and if so in which area. There really aren't enough inspectors so yes, a drowning dog comes before a rabbit in a small hutch, which is why I didn't want people saying that they'd rung up but no one had come out. I think the inspectors are just as frustrated on this as us. I also found out that most people don't realise the RSPCA don't get government funding. I knew this but apparently a lot of the general public seem to think we do?
 
I really think it would be good for you to get involved with the Inspectorate, Jenova, if you can, before looking to solve a problem because then you'll have a better idea of what actually does go on :)

Can't speak highly enough about the Inspectors in my area :) They are just very overworked.
 
I really think it would be good for you to get involved with the Inspectorate, Jenova, if you can, before looking to solve a problem because then you'll have a better idea of what actually does go on :)

Can't speak highly enough about the Inspectors in my area :) They are just very overworked.

Definitely. :thumb:
I just wanted people's opinions right now, because they all seemed so negative.
 
I dont have anything bad to say about any of the inspectors / collection officers I ve dealt with but I do have a couple of negatives Id like to air .

one is as already mentioned ... The switch board staff are often less than helpful

and secondly there should be more rspca centres geared up to take rabbits .
We are in Barnsley ...and the nearest rspca cente to us that has proper facilities for rabbits is Bawtry ...therefore when these very limited spaces are full the rabbits have to go to private rescues ...and this sometimes means a stray rabbit may end up miles and miles away from where it turned up ...cutting down the chance of its owner finding it and putting preasure on smaller rescues .
 
I dont have anything bad to say about any of the inspectors / collection officers I ve dealt with but I do have a couple of negatives Id like to air .

one is as already mentioned ... The switch board staff are often less than helpful

and secondly there should be more rspca centres geared up to take rabbits .
We are in Barnsley ...and the nearest rspca cente to us that has proper facilities for rabbits is Bawtry ...therefore when these very limited spaces are full the rabbits have to go to private rescues ...and this sometimes means a stray rabbit may end up miles and miles away from where it turned up ...cutting down the chance of its owner finding it and putting preasure on smaller rescues .

Thanks. I will mention this as well. :wave:
 
I've aired my gripes previously, so won't go down that road again but from a rehoming perspective, aside from the issues with Scarlet's teeth, they did home check and they also did do a follow up visit 3 months after we had Scarlet and Boo. They were very clear that the hutch should be 6 x 2 x 2 and have an attached run.
I was impressed they did the follow up visit. They don't bother for rats at our branch (which is York) so I wasn't really expecting that. The accomodation at York for rabbits is pretty good too.
I wonder if the 2 main issues are actually the switchboard (which are **** in my experience) and the inconsistency as there seems to be a disparity in people experience depending on where they are. This could actually be down to switchboard and general infrastructure, the inspectors can only ever be as good as the information which is passed to them.
 
I've aired my gripes previously, so won't go down that road again but from a rehoming perspective, aside from the issues with Scarlet's teeth, they did home check and they also did do a follow up visit 3 months after we had Scarlet and Boo. They were very clear that the hutch should be 6 x 2 x 2 and have an attached run.
I was impressed they did the follow up visit. They don't bother for rats at our branch (which is York) so I wasn't really expecting that. The accomodation at York for rabbits is pretty good too.
I wonder if the 2 main issues are actually the switchboard (which are **** in my experience) and the inconsistency as there seems to be a disparity in people experience depending on where they are. This could actually be down to switchboard and general infrastructure, the inspectors can only ever be as good as the information which is passed to them.

Thank you, this is really interesting.
 
only a few wks ago i reported a rabbit in a tiny hutch with no hay,water etc the girl on the phone took many details and did explain that cases are prioitised,i did leave my details and asked to be kept informed, i told her i could foster the rabbit if required,also i pushed a rabbit welfare leaflet through the door.

3 days later the rabbit had new hutch,water bottle and hay unfortunately i don't know if the rspca went round or the owners took note of the leaflet as i have not heard back from the rspca?
 
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