RSPCA working with pets at home

[Crunchie]

Can you please provides some evidence of people making lots of money out this charity? The thousands of us who give up our free time in order to help the animals would love to see it.

I imagine the backbone of the RSPCA is made up of poorly paid staff and volunteers but there are folk working for them that earn a pretty decent wage according to the websites I've seen.

Salaries vary depending on the organisation that you work for, it’s size and the hours worked (weekend, unsociable hours, etc.). For example, starting salary for an RSPCA inspector is about £21,000 a year. Fully trained inspectors earn about £27,000 and Chief inspectors can earn up to £30,000.

There was also a lot of talk a few years ago regarding the salary of the chief executive which was said to be in the region of £105k a year. Even for an inspector a starting salary of £21k isn't bad when the qualifications required can be gotten quite easily in secondary school. A teacher in their probation year will get a similar salary here but they need to have an honors degree along with a post graduate diploma as opposed to the 5 GCSE's required by the RSPCA.

I can see from the RSPCA's website that their animal care assistants can't expect much more than minimum wage but if the chief inspector's are earning up to £30k then it's safe to assume the "higher up" individuals are earning more than this. I don't grudge people a high salary for a stressful difficult job but it seems a shame that the folk doing the "dirty work" in the RSPCA are either the poorest paid or not paid at all.

There seems to be a wide variety of different roles that people can be employed as in the RSPCA
http://www.rspca.org.uk/in-action/careers/jobvacancies

 

[Edward Hawkins]

You are right about the salary of the Chief Executive. I have found the article from the Independent. The salary seems to be about the same as other big charities pay their top person:

*Riverside Housing Group: Deborah Shackleton, chief executive, received a salary of £231,000 for 2008-9.

* Barnardo's: Its chief executive, Martin Narey, earns a salary of £166,532.

*National Trust: Fiona Reynolds, the director general, is paid between £160,000 and £169,000.

*British Heart Foundation: Peter Hollins, chief executive, enjoys a salary of £153,000

*Action for Children: Its boss Clare Tickell was paid between £130,000 and 140,000 last year.

*Guide Dogs for the Blind: Bridget Warr, chief executive, earns between £120,000 and £130,000.

*Age Concern: Its director general Gordon Lishman earned £117,488 in 2007-8.

*RSPCA: Mark Watts, chief executive, received £105,500 in pay and perks in the year to April 2009.

*The RSPB: Chief executive Graham Wynne's pay and benefits were up to £100,000 for 2007-8.

*Victim Support: Gillian Guy, the group's chief executive, earns a salary of £100,000.

*World Vision: Justin Byworth, the chief executive, received £99,994 in pay and perks in 2008.

*Greenpeace: The current salary of the organisation's chief executive, John Sauven, is £65,000.

The following charities were contacted by The Independent but refused to name their highest earners:

*NSPCC – highest earner received pay and perks of between £110,001 and £120,000 in 2009.

*Anchor Trust – Jane Ashcroft, deputy chief executive, stepped in as acting chief executive after the resignation of John Belcher who earned nearly £400,000. The charity said it did not know who will be the permanent replacement and how much they will be paid.

I certainly do not think the inspectors pay is particularly high when you consider the job that they do. I earn more for a less exacting job. Just because the minimum qualification is 5 GCSE's does not mean that many do not have higher qualifications.

 

[loppy ears]

You are right about the salary of the Chief Executive. I have found the article from the Independent. The salary seems to be about the same as other big charities pay their top person:

*Riverside Housing Group: Deborah Shackleton, chief executive, received a salary of £231,000 for 2008-9.

* Barnardo's: Its chief executive, Martin Narey, earns a salary of £166,532.

*National Trust: Fiona Reynolds, the director general, is paid between £160,000 and £169,000.

*British Heart Foundation: Peter Hollins, chief executive, enjoys a salary of £153,000

*Action for Children: Its boss Clare Tickell was paid between £130,000 and 140,000 last year.

*Guide Dogs for the Blind: Bridget Warr, chief executive, earns between £120,000 and £130,000.

*Age Concern: Its director general Gordon Lishman earned £117,488 in 2007-8.

*RSPCA: Mark Watts, chief executive, received £105,500 in pay and perks in the year to April 2009.

*The RSPB: Chief executive Graham Wynne's pay and benefits were up to £100,000 for 2007-8.

*Victim Support: Gillian Guy, the group's chief executive, earns a salary of £100,000.

*World Vision: Justin Byworth, the chief executive, received £99,994 in pay and perks in 2008.

*Greenpeace: The current salary of the organisation's chief executive, John Sauven, is £65,000.

The following charities were contacted by The Independent but refused to name their highest earners:

*NSPCC – highest earner received pay and perks of between £110,001 and £120,000 in 2009.

*Anchor Trust – Jane Ashcroft, deputy chief executive, stepped in as acting chief executive after the resignation of John Belcher who earned nearly £400,000. The charity said it did not know who will be the permanent replacement and how much they will be paid.

I certainly do not think the inspectors pay is particularly high when you consider the job that they do. I earn more for a less exacting job. Just because the minimum qualification is 5 GCSE's does not mean that many do not have higher qualifications.

That must be why it costs £70,000 to train a guide dog but only about £10,000 - £15,000 to train other assistance dogs

 

[Becki xX]

I imagine the backbone of the RSPCA is made up of poorly paid staff and volunteers but there are folk working for them that earn a pretty decent wage according to the websites I've seen.



There was also a lot of talk a few years ago regarding the salary of the chief executive which was said to be in the region of £105k a year. Even for an inspector a starting salary of £21k isn't bad when the qualifications required can be gotten quite easily in secondary school. A teacher in their probation year will get a similar salary here but they need to have an honors degree along with a post graduate diploma as opposed to the 5 GCSE's required by the RSPCA.

I can see from the RSPCA's website that their animal care assistants can't expect much more than minimum wage but if the chief inspector's are earning up to £30k then it's safe to assume the "higher up" individuals are earning more than this. I don't grudge people a high salary for a stressful difficult job but it seems a shame that the folk doing the "dirty work" in the RSPCA are either the poorest paid or not paid at all.

There seems to be a wide variety of different roles that people can be employed as in the RSPCA
http://www.rspca.org.uk/in-action/careers/jobvacancies

I'm not particularly interested in the thread, but have to add that a starting salary of 21K is nothing for an Inspector, they really do have a pretty horrendous job. The vast majority of them also have houses full to the brim of animals that they have not been able to place, yet cannot bare to pts. My hat is well & truly off to anyone strong enough to do the job, they deserve double the pay and more.

 

[Captain Helen]

I'm not particularly interested in the thread, but have to add that a starting salary of 21K is nothing for an Inspector, they really do have a pretty horrendous job. The vast majority of them also have houses full to the brim of animals that they have not been able to place, yet cannot bare to pts. My hat is well & truly off to anyone strong enough to do the job, they deserve double the pay and more.

Well said. I just Googled, and it's less than the starting salary for a police officer.

 

[Crunchie]

I'm not particularly interested in the thread, but have to add that a starting salary of 21K is nothing for an Inspector, they really do have a pretty horrendous job. The vast majority of them also have houses full to the brim of animals that they have not been able to place, yet cannot bare to pts. My hat is well & truly off to anyone strong enough to do the job, they deserve double the pay and more.

You seem to have missed my point here is what I said...

I don't grudge people a high salary for a stressful difficult job but it seems a shame that the folk doing the "dirty work" in the RSPCA are either the poorest paid or not paid at all.

The inspectors jobs probably fall into that heading though from what I've read most of the inspectors wouldn't do any other job despite the heartache. There is a book written by an RSPCA inspector but I can't remember the title of it (something to do with a seal pup in the bath) which suggested just that.

I think what molly was getting at was that there are people involved in the RSPCA who do earn a very cushy living out of it at the expense of hard working poorly paid staff, volunteers and the animals themselves.

We don't have the RSPCA up here but I certainly wouldn't donate to them if we did unless there were smaller branches that could guarantee the money went to help animals rather than lining the pockets of people who earn far more than I do. There seems to be a few such branches like that certainly but not everyone knows this and to be honest I can't disagree with someone who takes such a stance against any charity who have such highly paid members of staff as the ones Edward Hawkins posted.

 

[Edward Hawkins]

I will be working all of today - unpaid - in the RSPCA shop. I don't want to be paid. That is the whole point of voluntary work. Neither do I begrudge those paid employees their salaries; they earn them.

 

[mollyjoker]

I will be working all of today - unpaid - in the RSPCA shop. I don't want to be paid. That is the whole point of voluntary work. Neither do I begrudge those paid employees their salaries; they earn them.

Really admire you and when i have more time in later life it is my intention to volunteer for
animal charities.
My comments about people making money were not aimed at you and ordinary workers.
I just think charities have lost their way a bit and are run more like a buisness i really dont
think chief executives can justify these high salaries when working for a charity.
Also i suppose i really think rabbits get a rough deal from the RSPCA.
In terms of lobbying governments for more regulations.
Again i really value the work of volunteers but do feel RSPCA has lost a bit of direction.
I remember as a child we used to go carol singing and collect for the RSPCA and every year when we took
the money to the local centre we were made a fuss of not sure if that would happen today.
Keep up the good work