RSPCA RAID 71 YEAR OLD PENSIONER, THEN PROSECUTE HER FOR NOT KILLING DOG

The death of a pet is a terrible thing, one that all pet owners sadly have to face, unfortunately our boon companions are not granted as long as us on the earth. Yet while they are here they provide such comfort, joy and companionship far and above their brief time with us. Having been in a similar situation I would have given anything for just one more day, but it was not to be and it’s a terrible decision to have to make.

This is very sad story and one you might have thought could be handled by a bit of empathy and sitting down with a cup of tea and a good long chat. But not it seems for the RSPCA.

We’ve seen all to frequently how the RSPCA has no compunction in using donations to fight court cases against wills that they feel they have been bilked out of their share. But this sort of heavy handed approach is becoming far more common perhaps it’s a ploy ‘pour encourage les autres’.

But that’s not the jist of this post, no, the reason I’m writing this is a couple of things stood out in the story, now, it could just be lazy reporting (it is the Daily Mail after all)

The RSPCA broke into her home and, after finding the dog with numerous medical problems, charged 71-year-old Mrs Spoor with causing unnecessary suffering to her loyal companion.

‘The RSPCA broke into her home’ did you get that ? they ‘broke into her home’

I’m sorry I didn’t realise the RSPCA had been given Open Warrants to enter peoples property.

As far as I know, the only people in the UK with ‘Open Warrants’ i.e not needed to be authorised by a Judge are HM Customs & Excise and the utility companies, the latter only being authorised to enter to disconnect the supply.

I hope I’m wrong, but I am assuming that the RSPCA approached the Police, the Police approached a Judge and the Judge based on the ‘evidence’ issued a warrant to enter this ladies home. Then the breaking in was carried out by a duly authorised & Warranted Police Officer accompanied by the RSPCA.

What’s worrying is that at no point did anybody say “Hang on a bit, this is an old lady here, looking to lose a friend, couldn’t this be handled a bit more sensitively?’

Which brings me to the second point ‘ and, after finding the dog with numerous medical problems, charged 71-year-old Mrs Spoor ‘

TAGGED BY THE RSPCA FOR NOT KILLING PET

The RSPCA charged her did they, funny I thought that was the job of the Crown Prosecution Service or have the RSPCA become Judge Judy and Executioner* these days.

If however the CPS did bring the charge after pressure from the RSPCA whoever did it should be sacked as they are quite plainly useless, but I suppose on the stat’s sheet a conviction is a conviction in our don’t look at the quality, look at the numbers Judicial system.

Somewhere along the line the RSPCA seems to have lost sight of what it was actually founded for, It seems to have become ‘The Royal Society for the Policing of Cruelty to Animals’

I do know they will be getting no more money from me again and stories like this will only ensure that others will follow suit.

http://pavlovscat2.blogspot.com/2011/07/freeze-punk-rspca.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019685/Grandmother-Pauline-Spoor-convicted-animal-cruelty-wear-electronic-tag.html

RSPCA; LACK OF STATUTORY POWERS AND POLICE IMPERSONATION AND LIES

Lack of statutory powers and allegations of police impersonation

The RSPCA rank names and rank insignia share similarity with British police ranks, which has led some critics (such as Chris Newman, chairman of the Federation of Companion Animal Societies)^[15] to suggest an attempt to "adopt" police powers in the public imagination. When Richard Girling of The Times asked about their lack of powers, a spokesman for the RSPCA said "We would prefer you didn’t publish that, but of course its up to you".^[15] Chris Newman claimed that the RSPCA "impersonate police officers and commit trespass. People do believe they have powers of entry";^[15] however, he did not produce any evidence of such impersonation of police officers,^{[citation needed]} and the Society strongly deny the charge. However, RSPCA personnel do issue members of the public with a caution which is identical to that used by UK Police Officers, "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court" and the use of this may be interpreted by members of the public that the RSPCA does have statutory powers. [ Sally Case, head of prosecutions, insists that RSPCA inspectors are trained specifically to make clear to pet-owners that they have no such right.

PIGS FLY, AND RSPCA OFFICERS ARE TRAINED TO TELL PEOPLE THEY HAVE NO STATUTORY POWERS
SALLY CASE.

They act without an owner’s permission, she says, “only if an animal is suffering in a dire emergency. If the court feels evidence has been wrongly obtained, it can refuse to admit it”.^[15] The RSPCA logo is clearly visible on the uniform worn by RSPCA officers, all carry RSPCA ID cards, and their vans are clearly liveried with the RSPCA logo.
While the Protection of Animals Act 1911 does provide a power of arrest for police, case law has defined very clearly that Parliament did not intend any other organisation such as the RSPCA to be empowered under the Act and therefore the RSPCA does not have any powers of arrest, or entry or of search (Line v RSPCA 1902). Like any other person or organisation that the law deems to have a duty to investigate – e.g., HM Customs & Excise, Local Authority Trading Standards – the RSPCA is expected to conform to the rules in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 so far as they relate to matters of investigation. RSPCA officers are trained to state, following giving the caution, that the person is "not under arrest and can leave at any time".

And yet Inspector Julie Lyons says the opposite,

"the Animal Welfare Act, which came into force last year, has made it possible for action to be taken as soon as animal welfare concerns are flagged up. RSPCA officers can now seize pets immediately if they are not being looked after properly, or are being treated badly"

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Britain-s-shame-pet-cruelty-grows/story-12509649-detail/story.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals

CLEVELAND POLICE ADMIT THEY GIVE PNC INFORMATION TO THE RSPCA's LOWEST RANK

How many Employees of the RSPCA or individuals working on behalf of the RSPCA are authorised by your Police Force to make PNC, STORM or other information/data enquiries on all or any systems you operate.

Please specify if these individuals have direct or indirect access to such information and systems.

Please also specify which information systems they have access to.
As the RSPCA are a non police-prosecuting agency, where an offence has taken place a designated officer of the RSPCA will be able to make or request the appropriate checks from police systems. The designated officer will be of inspector level and the force will hold details of designated officers who are authorised to contact Cleveland Police for checks.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_5

WHICH VERY SENIOR (MALE) RSPCA OFFICER IS CURRENTLY HAVING AN AFFAIR?

THIS BLOG HAS RECEIVED INFORMATION ABOUT A VERY SENIOR  (MALE) RSPCA OFFICER HAVING A "SECRET" AFFAIR, WELL A SECRET FROM HIS WIFE AND FAMILY, ALLEGEDLY THE RSPCA ELITE ARE ALREADY AWARE OF THE AFFAIR INVOLVING A FEMALE RSPCA OFFICER. ANSWERS ON A POSTCARD TO RSPCA HEADQUATERS, OR POST A COMMENT!

EXTRACTS FROM DAWN TO DUSK THE WORK OF THE RSPCA

So obscene has been the RSPCA’s accumulation of wealth, that by the end of the 1990s it stood at over £100 million and the Charity Commission was forced to step in and tell them to reduce the available booty by over half to £45 million. No wonder animal abusers want control of this—in the right hands, animal welfare would indeed be advanced! The Animal Liberation Movement has missed the boat here. The RSPCA duly complied with its obligations, but rather than spending it directly on animal welfare initiatives like solving the country’s stray animal problem, or for example by promoting the benefits to all of the vegan diet, the Council set about pouring money into wages and office ‘improvements’, including splashing out a staggering £21 million on new office headquarters.
http://www.fromdusktildawn.org.uk/Extracts/rspca_extracts.htm

POLICE SHARE CRIMINAL RECORDS AND RESTRICTED DATA WITH RSPCA

ORDINARY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC (IF THEY WORK FOR THE RSPCA) CAN ACCESS PNC AND CRIMINAL RECORDS, CARRY OUT VEHICLE CHECKS AND OBTAIN ANY INFORMATION HELD BY THE POLICE.

Below are extracts from FOI's submitted to all English and Welsh Police Forces, they all share RESTRICTED information with the RSPCA, many Forces even let the RSPCA Employee have direct access!

The RSPCA has a local information sharing agreement with Norfolk Constabulary. The RSPCA undertakes prosecutions in relation to persons who have committed offences involving animals. Within Norfolk these prosecution details are updated onto the Police National Computer (PNC) by Norfolk Constabulary and PNC information is provided in support of these. In addition to this, the Constabulary will undertake vehicle checks in support of an ongoing investigation.

As detailed in our previous response there are 9 members of the RSPCA who are authorised to undertake these enquiries with Norfolk Constabulary.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/89903/response/223549/attach/3/Response%20Letter.pdf

There is no central recording of these PNC checks but it is possible to carry out transaction

enquiries on the PNC database using relevant search criteria. There are 9 members of the RSPCA who are authorised to undertake these enquiries with Norfolk Constabulary.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/84775/response/213411/attach/3/Response%20Letter.pdf

 http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/89908/response/222923/attach/2/03384.pdf

 

How many Employees of the RSPCA, or individuals working on behalf of the RSPCA are authorised by your Police Force to make PNC, STORM or other information/data enquiries on all or any systems you operate.

Two RSPCA officers have been given the facility to request PNC vehicle registration keeper details in relation to urgent request for information.

Please specify if these individuals have direct or indirect access to such information and systems.

 This is indirect access. The RSPCA Officer contacts Devon & Cornwall Police and provides detailed security responses to questions to enable a request for information from the Police National Computer. 

Any request the RSPCA make to the Police are covered by the Data Protection Act Section 29(3) and risk assessed by the Police before any response is made.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_8

The RSPCA have an agreement with the ACPO Criminal Records Office (ACRO) in order to request conviction histories from the PNC when the RSPCA have impending prosecutions against an individual. The RSPCA do not have direct access to the PNC systems, and these requests are all processed centrally by ACRO staff in Hampshire.

Within Lancashire, one RSPCA employee has been authorised to request additional information from the PNC via the force’s PNC Bureau. This is usually vehicle data, and must be in respect of an investigation which the RSPCA have the power to conduct. Again, this individual does not have any direct access to the PNC.
Lancashire Constabulary does not currently have a formal Information Sharing Agreement in place with the RSPCA, although work is understood to be underway to create a nationally standardised agreement for all police forces. At present, the RSPCA and its employees can submit requests for the disclosure of relevant information held on the force’s local information systems, providing it can be evidenced that these checks are required in order to investigate a suspected criminal offence, and subject to the assessment of the requested information by the force.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_18

Should the RSPCA require Kent Police to share specific information with them in order to support a ‘policing purpose’, defined as, “protecting life and property, preserving order, preventing the commission of offences, bringing offenders to justice and any duty or responsibility of the police arising from common or statute law” then there is policy and legislation which supports this.
Information relating to this can be found within Kent Police Policy D14, Appendix B which is
available to view at: http://www.kent.police.uk/about_us/policies/d/d14.html.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/89897/response/221928/attach/3/11%2010%20172%20Response%20Letter.pdf

The RSPCA may approach the Police for assistance, for example in obtaining a warrant to enter property, etc but they do not have access to any systems.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_10#incoming-222720

The RSPCA often have local agreements with Police Forces where they can
ask for checks (mainly PNC) to be done and if this is the case there would
also be an agreement in place such as a Memorandum of Understanding or
Information Sharing Protocol and it would be a designated Police SPOC to
RSPCA SPOC via the Data Protection Act (DPA) sec 29(3). Any official
request the RSPCA make to the Police would be covered by DPA Sec 29(3) and
risk assessed by the Police before any response is made.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_22#incoming-221561

No RSPCA staff have access to Police systems. 

However, the Control Room staff  have a file that contains 7 names  and specific details of staff from the RSPCA who can, if they provide all the details relative to their names which we hold on file, and a specific password for their name, we will then conduct certain PNC checks on their behalf.
PNC (Police National Computer) is the only system they are allowed access to under this system of identification.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_2

I have been advised that the RSPCA often have local
agreements with Police Forces where they can ask for checks (mainly PNC)
to be done and if this is the case there would be an agreement in place
such as a Memorandum of Understanding or Information Sharing Protocol and
it would be a designated Police SPOC to RSPCA SPOC via the DPA sec 29(3).
Any official request the RSPCA make to the Police would be covered by DPA
Sec 29(3) and risk assessed by the Police before any response is made.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_33

On a case by case base, where lawful authority is demonstrated, R.S.P.C.A. staff may seek access to relevant information on police systems, e.g. under the provisions of section 29(3), Data Protection Act, 1998. Each application would be individually considered.  

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_21

Your Police Force not listed? You can find a full list of replies to FOI's regarding Police CRB, PNC information etc being shared with the RSPCA here;

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/richard_martin

RSPCA ACT DISGRACEFULLY (WHATS NEW?)

RSPCA PROTESTS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT

In light of recent publicity about horses being dumped, I would not advise anyone to ring the RSPCA for help or advice.
Recently a horse was dumped on waste land very close to where I live.
My family and I, and others, have been feeding it.
A girl at my grandson's college was so concerned about it that she rang the RSPCA. They weren't interested!
Their actual advice was: "Don't give it any food or water, so that it gets worse, because if it looks healthy no one will take it."
I am appalled at their response. I always thought the letters stood for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but what they were advising is cruel.
How would that person like to be tethered with a chain around their neck, with no shelter, food or water, and people being told to starve them. It is a total disgrace.
I will never donate anything to them, ever.
Name and address supplied.
http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/RSPCA-acted-disgracefully/story-13763435-detail/story.html

RSPCA TO SPEND MORE ON SPIN AS DONATORS DESERT THEM

JUSTINE PANNET; RSPCA PROPOGANDA

Animal welfare charity will undertake more research in advance of campaigns after finding that its current messages are not getting through

The RSPCA will carry out more pre-campaign research with members of the public because its behaviour-change messages are increasingly "falling on deaf ears".
Justine Pannett, senior campaigns manager at the RSPCA, said the charity had decided to carry out more research into why people behave in certain ways before launching a campaign.
FENRIS WOLF COMMENTS;
The real problem is that the RSPCA's messages are increasingly extreme and unconnected with normal life.
Who wants to support the boltgunning to death of dogs by an organisation that prosecuted a policeman for putting a dying cat out of its misery?
Who wants so support an organisation that is continually criticised for intimidating and prosecuting vulnerable people, the elderly, the disabled, children instead of helping?
Who wants to support an organisation that prosecutes local rescues doing the job the RSPCA should be doing (did you know that the RSPCA no longer takes stray or owner surrendered animals?) when they start to damage RSPCA fund collection? You only have to look at what happened to Pat Seager.
Who wants to support an organisation that has been ( and despite their claims of opposing the Dangerous Dogs Act are still) running round identifying dogs as 'pit bull type' resulting in dogs, even pure bred staffies, being slung in stark kennels, sometimes for years and even dying before their owners (who don't get any legal aid to fight the case) manage to get a court hearing that releases the dogs?
And who wants to support an organisation that wants to ban virtually every kind of human-animal interaction?
If the RSPCA wants people to support its message then it needs to give a message that is supportable.
http://thirdsector.co.uk/News/MostDiscussed/1102537/RSPCA-plans-change-its-approach-campaigning/

RSPCA TO PROSECUTE 81 YEAR OLD?

My 81 year old father inlaw who has 2 labradors was in his local pub with a group of friends, his lady friend had a 6 week old puppy long haired Dachund, A woman came into the pub with a dog ( labrador ) she sat away at the end of the pub she informed them that the dog was there to socialise with people and other animals ( we have learnt since the dog was usually muzzled ) the lady with the small dachund took her dog over as it loved other dogs to socialise with the Lab. The labrador suddenly grabbed the 6 week old puppy in its mouth and proceeded to shake it like a rag doll the dachund owner was covered in blood as was the pub floor ( thankfully the puppy died straight away ) on seeing this my father inlaw who was obviously distressed and emotionally upset he kicked the Labrador 3 times. The police were called by my father inlaw, the PC had a word with both sets of owners the lady with the dachund did not want to prosecute. The RSPCA called to see my father inlaw and he thought they were there to discuss the attack on the puppy ? 
My father inlaw 81 has now recieved a summons to appear in court for animal cruelty ( kicking the dog ) He knows he should not have done this but was emotionall distraught at the blood and bundle of fur that was the dachund he once loved, he is now worrying that if convicted he will lose his dogs ( this is a man that drove 200 miles per week to take his last dog to see a speacilist that cost over 8k )

my question is should he be prosecuted !! following the RSPCA Criteria for prosecutions 
http://www.policespecials.com/forum/index.php?/topic/123997-rspca/