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| RSPCA STOLE MY DOG |
A dog owner has hit out at RSPCA staff who re-homed his pet because he could not pay a release fee within seven days.
When Martin Day, 36, a dad-of-one, of Sandy Croft, Ribbleton, Preston, lost his pet greyhound on June 29, he was relieved to hear it had been picked up by the RSPCA.
Lady the greyhound had vaulted his fence when spooked by fireworks let off during the World Cup.
But when he arrived to collect the dog, which he has had for six years, he was told he must pay a £97 release fee within seven days.
Martin, a store man at BAE Systems, in Warton, explained he would not be able to raise the cash until he had been paid, which would be after the seven-day limit.
He claims that on July 8 he arrived with the cash but was told the dog would not be released.
He said: “I said I would not be able to pay within seven days.
“I went down on the eighth day with the £97 and said ‘surely you can allow me to pay to get the dog back’ but they said ‘no.’
“I have been ringing every week asking to get her back.”
A spokesman for the RSPCA, said: “RSPCA Preston has a contract with the city council to take in stray dogs and care for them for seven days, after which time the council signs the ownership of them over to the RSPCA which, in this case, happened on July 7.
“Unfortunately the owner of the greyhound didn’t get in touch until 8th July, a day after she had been signed over to the RSPCA.
“And the contract with Preston City Council won’t allow the RSPCA to re-home the dog to the original owner. “Mr Day was advised to contact Preston City Council by staff at RSPCA Preston animal centre on many occasions to reach an agreement.”
A spokesman added the dog had been re-homed by staff at the centre on Monday.
Comments; springerwelfare
Friday, August 13, 2010 at 02:53 PM
Something doesn't add up with this story, if the RSPCA have a contract with the council then as per the law, dogs should be kept for a minimum of 7 days before the dog can be re-homed,many councils allow longer because often dogs are sent out side the area where they were found because of local shelters being full. Given how quickly the RSPCA re-homed the dog, they must have started the re-homing process before the minimum 7 days was up, that to me would indicate a disregard for the original owners rights. I would also challenge the councils assertion that dogs may not be re-home dogs to original owners, what if it were the case that the owner was unable to locate the shelter where the dog was being kept, working in rescue I come across this scenario all to often where dogs are moved out side the are where they were found, all the authorities are notoriously lax when it comes to keeping descriptions of lost dog on file when owners phone up, all too often the owner has described their dog only to be told it isn't there, only to turn up months late re-homed. Refusing to give the legal owner their property back after an arbitrary period clearly breaches the owners human rights. The RSPCA being the 'alleged' owner of the dog once the 7 days were up had it in their power to do the right thing, but as has happened all to often in the past, they have done as they have done as they please and covered their tracks. I would also question that the dog was re homed so quickly, the RSPCA through their own sales speak tell us how difficult it is to re home a dog in the present economic climate. Perhaps the reporter on this one should do a bit more investigative digging.
http://www.lep.co.uk/lifestyle/my_pet_was_re_homed_by_rspca_1_1160242
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