RSPCA sample code of practice for rabbits

[donna-arc]

The RSPCA certainly inspect us once a year, Kayj.
This might be because they ask us to take animals from them. If we didn't, I don't know if they would inspect us.
I think all rescues should be inspected as some I know are worse than the places animals are removed from!
Inspection isn't as bad as it sounds and the RSPCA certainly don't want to close rescues if they can help it.

 

[Tamsin]

There's such a variation in size, I'm surprised they don't do it to take into account the animal. A giant can be two or three time the size of a cat!

I'd say that the minimum height should be the length of the largest rabbit from tail to ear tips (measured along the back) plus a few inches extra clearance. That enables the bun/piggies to stand upright.

My bunnies run is 2' tall and they can't quite touch the top of it even if they lean on the side and stretch. A giant would easily though and 2'6" would probably be too low as well.

You could do the same thing with hutch lengths/widths - e.g. one bunny length width by 5 bunny lengths long for a hutch.

I guess thats harder to put simply for people though?

Tam

 

[bunny-mad]

the branch I am involved with don't think this will happen even by the beginning of 2006 and to be honest it is never gonna be enforcable as they are so overstretched I think it is purely gonna be if there is complaints

Elaine

Quite, how exactly are they going to enforce this?

I understand that the problem at the moment is that the RSPCA cannot enforce a search unless they have evidence that an animal has actually been harmed? By which point it is too late. I assume this bill is an attempt to put a stop to this outdated law.

However, they are not going to endear themselves to consciensious pet owners but going round scaring people with hard and fast rules about hutch sizes. Perhaps they will try and take my rabbits away because they have no enclosure! (well their 'enclosure' is my house). I'm sure they'd have some problem with any type of unconventional set-up and that worries me greatly.

However, I do agree there should be a minimum hutch size but it has to be realistic. They haven't taken into account different sizes of rabbits (and also classed guineas and rabbits together - ??) nor how much run time the rabbit has outside of its enclosure each day. There are so many different ways of keeping rabbits that it would be impossible to enforce this law effectively.

 

[SOAD]

I'm not worring about it anymore, I challenge anyone to check out my arrangement to see how much room all my bunsters have, this whole subject caused me quite some concern as this month alone I've spent over £500 on two hutches, which are of a very high startard (should be here by the end of the week) which are 16 feet long for three bunnies and ten feet long for two. The mad thing is they all just sit in one corner of an hutch anyway.

 

[rabshan]

RSPCA

Hi...with regards to the RSPCA not being able to enforce a search..Yes they can they do it illegally..I know they did it to me(which is one of the reasons that I hate that organisation so much) they forced their way into my house against my wishes (one insp. phsyically restrained me) she then let the others in...I now know that they are NOT allowed to do this but I didn,t then, they also removed all my bunnies, they chased the terrified little furries around for 6 hrs. I wasn,t really surprised when some died when they were returned. I know now that they are not allowed to enter a house witiout the owners permission unless they have a warrant (which in my case they didn,t) or to take animals without a court order(again in my case they DID NOT)If they want enter a persons house to get a conviction then they will do what they did to me BREAK THE LAW. I got my bunnies back & they were returned in an awful state, some foaming at the mouth in terror 3 were injured & required vet treatment,one had to have surgery & later died despite this.So don,t tell me the RSPCA care about animals as I know better. All this was done on the word of a lunatic who is mentally ill & wanted revenge for me for ending our friendship & chucking her out of my home. I tried to complain about this but it was brushed under the carpet by head office just as my solicitor had said they would. If they want to earn respect of pet owners & general public then this sort of bullying has to stop they can not break the law of the land & get away with it & as far as I can see this bill will give them & free rein to do as they like (they will answer to no one) I was lucky that my bunnies are all well cared for & in good condition so they had no reason to keep them & I got them all back others have not been so lucky!!! you can,t even believe the pics that they take as they FAKE them as well (they did it to me) they shoved about 10 bunnies into a tiny hutch pulled all the bedding out & took pics so they looked as though they were cramped up in filthy cages when actually all mine are free range & are NEVER hutched up.I am still very very angry about what they did to me & my bunnies. The insp. admitted that they knew little about rabbits so how can they judge what are good or bad conditions if they are not rabbit savvy. they must train their insp. to specilise in certain animals & then maybe they will know better.sorry to ramble on but I feel SO MUCH better for having done so I hope you will never have to go through what I did.

 

[SOAD]

Hiya, I do think what heppened to you is truely horrible. I hope you don't hate me thou when I start working for them

 

[donna-arc]

What are you going to be doing Tree? Inspector or at a centre?

I have very mixed feelings about the RSPCA. We do work quite closely with them but there are lots of things about them I don't like.
They have millions of pounds invested but are still too quick to put animals to sleep. I know not all branches do this but ALL those that I deal with do.

 

[SOAD]

Just a home checker , Luckily I will be working with branches like Walsal who don't PTS, I couldn't work there if they did stuff like that. I would be taking them all home with me :lol:

 

[bunny-mad]

Hiya, I do think what happened to you is truely horrible. I hope you don't hate me thou when I start working for them

I think it's good that more bunny-savvy people get involved Tree, because from the sounds of the posts and what I have read before, some of these problems are occurring because there is a lack of rspca people with specific knowledge about rabbits. I'm afraid I don't know enough about their policies to comment on anything in particular, but this is what I have picked up from reading the posts...

 

[SOAD]

I think a lot of people who do work for the RSPCA are more geared to cats and Dogs, it's a shame as it does have the portential to be a really good organisation.

 

[rabshan]

rspca

OOHHH tree..how could I hate you, I do think that the RSPCA need more people like you that know & love rabbits, you will know what to look for. I think many of the inspectors are just looking for glory, they know that joe public know little about their policies & use that to their advantage to terrify & bully pet owners into signing over their animals so that they can perhaps get a conviction...weve all seen the ads "convicitons are up & so is animal cruelty" IS IT??? I do wonder about that!!! before they "visited" me I had twice contacted them & asked them to come & inspect my premises as I had had gloating calls from the lunatic telling me that "the net was closing" & they were "out there & looking" for "the shed" as she dubbed me later she refered to me as the "shedwoman" as she is too scared of being sued to use my name the coward!!! I was told that they had no reason to inspect my bunnies & that they were NOT looking for me!!! but I left them my name & addres plus tel.no. & the name of the lunatic & told them that she would definately be making a complaint (I really do know her very well|) yet when she did they ignored all of this, if they had used a small amount of common sense then this could have been avoided & my bunnies spared that awful ordeal...my little girl pebbles is still so scared that she hides when I go into my shed, once she knows its me she comes out again, she was not like this before...how can I ever make it up to her & the others when I let them down so badly. It should not have happened to them & if I hadn,t been friendly with that nutcase then it wouldn,t have so I can only blame myself. I knew she was crazy but thought she was my friend & in my book friends stay by one another & support them..well I do anyway. I would never have done that to her The RSPCA told me later that the only reason that they took my bunnies away was b/c of the stories she told them, they also told me what they had found at her place..filthy, overcrowded & it stank. she was told to reduce her numbers but she still had over 20. OOOPPSSS think I have rambled enough but as said it really does feel good to be able to talk to you guys about it I just hope you don,t judge me too harshly for what happened thanks for listening.

 

[SOAD]

Hiya, You've told me some of this stuff before and I can believe it, as there are some right nutters out there, i've had problems with a stalker before and it's no fun being on the receiveing end of some ones unwated attention.

Big Hugs

 

[Delphinum]

I've only read the first part of this topic and the last few... and I just thought, in Leeds, RSPCA, they do not have 5.5m x 5.5m runs/hutches... they have small dog kennels and some even sleep outside in little boxes in their runs...
Now I hope they're not going to go all hypocritical on us and expect everyone else to do it differently than them... :roll:
IF the RSPCA take every rabbit that isn't housed correctly, there will probably be thousands, if not millions, PTS... hardly the work of a 'rescue' centre! :evil:

 

[rabshan]

welfare bill

I think you are right there will be a massive dumping of animals b/c people will be scared of being prosecuted...the RSPCA themselves do not have the facilities to accomodate a large number of homeless so they will be killed. At the moment the RSPCA have no powers, they are just another rescue organisation, they should not go around forcing owners to sign over their pets (they tried to get me to do this with my bunnies under threat of arrest) what they should do is to HELP I have always believed that the P in their name stood for prevention so thats what they should do help owners to become better at caring for their pets not taking them to court & trying to get maximum publicity...they keep talking about how much they need this new welfare bill to give them the power to remove animals from what they regard as a bad situation but then what???just to PTS it really isn,t on. Let them get back to what they are best at & that is helping to educate people on animal welfare.

 

[Tamsin]

I don't think dumping will be more of a problem. People who are happy to have animals in tiny hutches and not research there needs aren't going to take much notice of instructions in leaflets etc. Unless someone complains and they then sign the animal over/take it away not much will change.

Tam

 

[rabshan]

Agreed..but what happens then??? A lucky few will be re-homed but the rest will be PTS..If many private small rescues without the funding that the RSPCA get can manage to keep animals until they can re-stored to full health & given new homes then why can,t they. They are too quick to kill & thats one of the things that I so hate about them, they have stopped CARING they just want money, power & fame. even the small branches get very little help from head office...all of these are mostly run by volunteers & they do a great job. I have had a recent conversation with a guy who used to be an inspector he now works for Wood green animal shelter & he left b/c he didn,t like the way things were going with this organisation now, as he said I joined so that I can save animals lives not kill them.

 

[Ratty Haven]

The thing I hate about them is the way they hide things from people, not mentioning any names but a someone let it slip that they had many rabbits come in to the press and said that many had been passed on by the RSPCA and if they hadn't taken them in they would have been PTS the press printed this and they got a s***y phone call from the RSPCA saying that if you go around telling people they put animals down they will stop giving them money.

I do understand why they pts as there are only so many animals you can help and an animal with problems may well not find a home and could hold space for animals that have no problems and will find a home. It is a fact that there are too many animals for homes so what can you do, if every rabbit owner in the UK took in a rescue bun and there were no rabbits in rescue in a few months time they would have to take on another rabbit as the rescued started to fill up again.

I am not trying to stick up for them as I don't really like them that much either but there are always two sides to every story. I have three rabbits here which I am 99% sure will never find a home as if I can't find homes for happy healthy rabbits how can I find homes for ones that aren't. Two are very aggressive although they have been castrated months ago and one has teeth problems. If I keep these rabbits here with me forever (they are only young) then other rabbits will suffer as I don't have the space so what do you do? I am just ignoring the situation as I don't want to have them put down but I can't do that forever.

I too went in to rescue to save lives but at times you have to take lifes in order to save more, it is much harder than people think to run a rescue and when you are faced with a decision on whether or not to end a life what do you do, as I don't know myself. I would never consider having an animal pts just because it had been here for X amont of time, but if you keep an animal which is very unlikely to find a new home for the next 7-8 years then how many lives will be lost in that time?

 

[rabshan]

rspca

Hi siobhan...Yes I know what you mean...I used to take in pastruella postitive bunnies & any that were considered unhomable I.E. bad tempered aggressive or just some that had been used for breeding & were now to old..I always give a foreever home & ask no questions about the condition they arrive in (some were very bad) I was often told to report the person that had given them to me but \i would never do that, all I wanted was to try to get them better & give them a good life. I have my little lionhead leo who came from a rescue & was going to be killed b/c he was considered unhandleable, he,s now been with me for 6 years & is such a great character as you say you cannot take in everything you have to say no sometimes as i did recently knowing that I had just condemed that bunny...its a rotten old world isn,t it.