Episode 3 Animal SOS

Good afternoon, RSPCA control centre.

What animal is your call regarding today?

In the UK, someone calls the RSPCA every 30 seconds.

Exactly what did you see?

They're left outside in all weathers

with no bedding or shelter from the rain?

24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I don't want you to go too close to it because swans can be very,

very dangerous.

When an animal needs help, the emergency line is open.

Do you know, I've had non-stop calls for the past hour.

All right, Take care, bye-bye.

Got a bit of a rough throat now.

It's cos I don't shut up.

Filming as the calls come in...

And when inspectors respond on the ground...

I'll pass this information through to the officer.

So close!

Rescuing everything from injured wildlife...

..to neglected pets.

HE BARKS

-Every shift is a challenge.

-CAT SCREECHES

Rhea one, RSPCA nil.

There's no such thing as a typical day as an RSPCA inspector.

-DOG WHIMPERS

-Oi, get... Oh, my lord!

-We never know what we're going to deal with.

-No two days are the same.

You're keeping a dog out there? It's disgusting.

-Whoa, there!

-It can get to the point where you feel like you're banging

your head against a brick wall.

It's dirty, sweaty...

It stuns me sometimes, the smells that I come across.

-SHE GAGS

-Sorry...

There's not a lot a lot of glamour in my role.

But even if you've just helped one animal...

-Hi, mate!

-..it's worth it.

-Today:

-Oh, crikey.

A pony called Charlie, badly in need of some loving care.

That's completely unacceptable.

A call to a bird left battered by the storms.

And inspector Jayne Bashford has to ask some difficult questions.

The allegation that we've had is that the dog is being beaten.

Every year,

nearly 30,000 animals get abandoned in England and Wales.

Seeing animals that have been dumped is really quite upsetting

and makes you angry.

There's no need for that.

And how long have they been left abandoned? Do you know?

Is there any evidence that the house is completely empty?

From moving home, to money worries,

there's many reasons people dump their pets.

They seem to think there's going to be loads of people there to pick up

the pieces afterwards. A lot of them probably don't

even think that far ahead.

It's really heart-breaking for us

to deal with abandoned animals, and also, you know,

how would somebody think that that's acceptable?

And while their training teaches them

not to get emotionally involved, some calls make it hard not to.

In London, inspector Clare Dew is on her way to this latest call.

I was angry the moment I received the call.

Primarily because the animal has been dumped outside a pet shop

that is open.

Why didn't they just take it inside and ask for help?

Nobody working in an industry like mine

or even in a pet shop, is going to send that pet away if they need help.

Dumping it on the pavement, on a cold, dark evening,

and running away, that's just cowardly and wrong.

Clare knows she needs to get the young kitten to the vet's

as quickly as possible.

It certainly sounds like that kitten is dying.

Or it's certainly extremely ill and needs some urgent treatment.

But it's rush hour in London.

Oh, you...

And traffic is slow.

I'm trying to drive through the East End of London at six o'clock

in the evening, but obviously on a dark evening,

rush hour, it's really bad.

Finally she arrives, and it's a dash to the pet shop where the animal

has been taken in by owner Tina.

I'm really concerned. I've given it water.

Yeah. It's just tiddly, is it?

-I don't...

-You don't think it's going to make it?

I don't think so.

I'll get it straight down to the vet, we'll see what we can do.

-I don't think it...

-It's not going to make... KITTEN MIAOWS

It's really not breathing very well, it's not moving,

it's making tiny little mewling sounds,

calling out for its mother. It's a very small, very young kitten.

It's extremely underweight, it's very dehydrated,

it's in a terrible state.

-See you later.

-Good luck.

-You too. Come on, little one.

-Good luck.

-Thank you, see you later.

KITTEN MEWS FEEBLY

'I pick up the kitten,'

and I'm running down the street with it, but all the time I can feel

the kitten doesn't weigh anything,

it's making these really tiny, sad noises.

KITTEN WHIMPERS

I know, little one, I know.

And I'm just really conscious that time is really against me here.

The vet's surgery is only a short drive away.

SHE SIGHS

But again, Clare's frustrated as progress is slow.

And she fears the worst for the kitten.

Um... Sorry.

All the time I'm driving to the vet,

I can hear the kitten in the back of the van.

And it's getting weaker and weaker,

and at one point it totally stops making any noise

and I really thought it had passed away in the vehicle.

Clare arrives at the vet's...

Come on, baby, come on, come on.

..and knows now that every second is vital.

I've got a kitten that I think may have died, actually, in the van.

The veterinary surgeons immediately looked at the cat,

and it's immediately obvious that it's extremely unwell,

and probably been unwell for quite some time.

KITTEN MIAOWS

Yeah, it's not...

..not the best-looking kitten in the world.

I don't see any obvious injuries or anything like that,

-but he's quite thin, and he's dehydrated.

-Dehydrated, yeah.

So what we'll do for now... I think it's worth warming him up,

-giving him some subcut fluids and monitoring him.

-See what happens?

-All right, excellent.

-Yeah, I don't have...

-Not too much hope.

-I don't have high hopes.

-No, that's understandable.

The situation seemed quite hopeless.

And I waited just to see what the outcome would be.

'He's probably got a less than 50-50 chance of making it.

'When you're that thin, you're that flat, you're that lethargic,

'you've got quite a long way to climb back up.'

But he's in the best possible place, he'll get the best possible care,

so if he's going to make it anywhere, he'll make it here.

It's a difficult hour for Clare, as she waits to hear from the vet.

He's just deteriorated quite quickly.

-It's all right.

-He's really struggling to breathe.

It was just too ill and too far gone, and we couldn't save it.

'And she made the decision to put the kitten to sleep.'

Sorry.

We're going to sedate you first so you don't feel anything.

-KITTEN MEWS

-I know, sweetheart.

CLARE SIGHS

'It's a tragic end for that kitten,'

but at least it didn't die just out on a pavement somewhere.

At least in this way we have managed

to put it out of its suffering very quickly.

Poor little mite.

In all the years that I've been doing the job,

these incidents have been occurring. I'm no longer surprised

or shocked by them. I still find them incredibly sad.

Because each case is individual and that animal's pain is individual,

I still find it incredibly sad.

'Every animal deserves a chance.'

If you don't want them or you can't afford to take them to the

veterinary surgery, please ring somebody like ourselves that can.

There is no excuse for dumping a sick or injured animal

on the street, there really isn't.

Calls about neglected animals cover all manner of complaints.

Lack of food, no shelter,

and untreated injuries are all too common.

What's your concern, what makes you think they're being neglected?

Today's latest call is about a pony whose coat is in a sorry state.

What animal is your call regarding today?

In Derby, inspector Chris Shaw is on his way.

He knows the horse well.

'With this particular horse,'

where he's situated is in a little field facing a load of houses.

So we do get quite a lot of calls about this pony.

And he's no stranger to the owner, either.

I have got a bit of history with this owner,

and I have been and spoke to her about this before.

So really I've given her plenty of chances to sort this out

and she's blatantly not listening.

So if it's still as bad as it was last time I saw it

I'm going to have to get her out and issue her

with a warning notice to make sure that she gets this done.

But when he gets there, the field is empty.

Don't tell me Charlie boy's gone.

Then Chris spots movement in a building in the corner of the field.

I'm just going to climb over the gate,

and go and have a look. He's in his little stable at the moment

so I just want to see how bad he is before I phone the owner.

And then hopefully I can get hold of the owner, get her to come

and meet me and discuss what's going on.

Chris needs to give the horse a close inspection.

Hello, mate. How are you doing?

It doesn't take long to see he's in a sorry state.

Good boy, good boy.

You can see his mane's just covered in them again.

What's your tail like? Oh, crikey.

Yeah.

His mane and tail were severely matted, it wasn't good at all.

It was almost like he's got like a baseball bat on the back of him,

or a club that's just swinging round, and whacking him each time.

The matting is being causes by burs from the overgrown hedges

and weeds in the field.

You shouldn't be leaving your animals like that,

that's completely unacceptable.

I'm going to go and give her a call

and see what she's got to say.

But Chris knows he needs to handle the owner with care.

If you go in there all guns blazing with her, she does the same,

she comes out fighting, you know? And she won't listen, she'll argue.

How long are you going to be?

Ten minutes, brilliant, I'll see you in about ten minutes then.

So I just thought, "Let's play this the right way,"

and I went and sat in my van and waited for her to turn up, really.

I hope it doesn't come to the stage where we have to do

a full prosecution on this lady, but if she doesn't listen to this,

and doesn't see that the horse is suffering,

by her leaving it this way, then she will leave me with no choice.

Ten minutes later, Charlie's owner, Anne, arrives.

Last time I spoke to you I said to you

-if you could chop some of these weeds down.

-Have you seen them?

Yeah, you've done most of them,

so how come you've still got it all in there, then?

Yeah...

You're cutting them down,

but you're not actually taking them out of the fields.

Perhaps if you took them out of the field, he's won't

get them entangled in his mane and tail again.

I said to her, "Come on, your horse is in a poor state,

"he's got those burs all over him,

"he's so heavily matted," and she's agreeing with me,

which is a bit of a slap in the face for me because

if she's agreeing and she knows about it,

why hasn't she sorted it out already?

'As I'm about to give her like the warning notice, really,'

I was about to go down that road with her,

she then starts saying, you know, well, "We can sort this out now."

I'll be honest, over this last week,

I've been getting quite a lot of calls about him,

and I think it's upsetting a lot of people around here, you know?

I do, yeah, I mean and it's not fair on Charlie,

cos this is going to be bothering him.

It is. I don't like seeing him like this either, Chris.

What I'm always trying to do in situations like that

is to get the owner on board, to realise what the problem is,

and get them to address it, so ultimately,

making that animal have a better life, really.

You really need to start doing this for yourself,

-like I keep saying to you.

-Yeah.

It shouldn't take me coming up and saying "Come on, Anne, get it done."

It shouldn't, Chris, you're right.

Good boy. He's like, "Oh, you groom me, I'll groom you."

You're going to look beautiful by the end of this, mate.

-The mane is done.

-That don't look too bad.

That's quite good. I mean, I'm really impressed with that.

And with a few more snips, the tail is also freed.

-All done.

-Look at that.

Aw, you've got a baby tail.

It's better than a baseball tail though, isn't it?

It is, yeah.

'He's got all that horrible stuff off of him,'

he's just had half an hour of being sent to the salon, really.

You could see a change in his demeanour, really.

He was a completely different pony.

So if I come back in a couple of days, then,

am I going to expect this mane to be clear?

Yeah?

She did say she's got a lot of things going off in her life

'at the moment, but to be honest

'I hear these excuses time in, time out,'

and there is no excuse at the end of the day.

You know, if you take on an animal, you're completely responsible for it.

You need to sort all these things out.

So I'm afraid these kind of things don't wash with me.

So this is what's just come off Charlie. I mean, that is

quite heavy, and I mean they're just completely and utterly solid,

so, you know, that wasn't very good for him, but now the owner's

took them all off him, I'm sure he's feeling a lot better really.

It's a great result for Charlie.

But before he leaves, Chris wants to make sure Anne clears the field

so it doesn't happen again.

-Glass bottles, we don't have none of them in fields.

-Nope.

'I mean, at the end of that visit, my relationship with the owner,'

she perhaps likes me a bit more for helping her.

I'd hope so, anyway.

-Right, well I'm going to leave you be.

-OK.

-Thank you very much.

-No problem.

And I mean it. And hopefully, you'll not see me again, you know?

Oh, no, I want to see you again, I like you coming up.

See, he looks loads better, you must admit.

He does. He looks happier, don't he?

All in all, it was a good job really,

because, you know, Charlie's happy, the owner's happy, I'm happy.

Dealing with calls about deliberate cruelty can be especially difficult.

She hit it with...?

A slipper?

But it's important inspectors on the ground keep an open mind.

In Staffordshire, Jayne Bashford is on her way to the latest allegation.

We've had a couple of calls to the same address.

People expressing concerns about a dog that's being allegedly beaten,

by its owner.

This kind of call can require delicate handling.

It's awkward because you are putting an allegation to somebody

that is really unpleasant, you know,

you are going to have to say to somebody, "Do you beat your dog?"

Dog beatings really are one of those calls

that when you receive it you do wonder

how you're going to prove it.

Jayne has been told the dog is a Staffordshire bull terrier cross.

She'll be waiting to see if it's uneasy around its owner.

-Hello there. Sorry to bother you, just from the RSPCA.

-Yeah.

The door was opened by the man of the house,

and there was a dog present.

Aw, he's gorgeous! Should we speak upstairs?

-Is that all right?

-Yeah, that's fine, yeah.

I felt almost as though he was quite pleased to see me, in a way.

It's a mess at the moment.

Don't worry about mess. Don't worry about mess. Come on, little one.

I like to try and build a rapport with somebody.

OK, sweetheart, that's fine.

And then just say to them, look, you know,

this is the allegation, this is why I'm here.

The allegation that we've had

is that the dog is being beaten.

OK?

Now, I'm just wondering, what's... What do you think about that,

what's your view on that allegation?

Do you ever have to discipline the dog?

-No. I mean, well, I do, but I don't beat it.

-No?

I never have hit a dog. I never would do.

I mean, I love him to pieces.

Well, he seems to be very affectionate towards you, doesn't he?

-What's he called?

-Rocky.

-Rocky.

The dog isn't nervous. And appears to be a much-loved pet.

The dog seemed fine, actually.

Very bright and bouncy, jumping up on the sofa,

sitting next to the man in the house.

But then Martin has an admission.

I was thinking about ringing the RSPCA anyway,

-because I've actually got a job and he's...

-Have you?

Actually...

Is he becoming a bit troublesome for you?

Well, he's not becoming troublesome, it's just

he's in a flat on his own all the time.

OK. Were you looking to re-home him?

Well, yes, if that's possible.

I mean, I don't want to let him go, because I love him to pieces,

-but it's not fair.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-To leave him on his own all day.

-Yeah.

No, I completely understand that, and I think

that's a responsible thing for people to do.

Is to think about, you know,

what's going to be the best thing for the animal.

At the end of the day.

If somebody actually looks you in the eye and says "I'm considering

"re-homing my dog," you've got to help somebody in those circumstances.

And Jayne also notices a few issues with Rocky.

Has the vet said anything about the fur loss

around his eyes, or anything?

No, no. I've not really noticed that, actually.

Let's have a look at your little face, Rocky. Hello, baby.

-Is he quite friendly with everybody, is he?

-He is, yeah.

Have you ever noticed any fleas on him? No?

-He has been scratching.

-Has he?

-Quite a bit, the last couple of days.

-OK. OK.

If it's something that you're looking to do,

in terms of re-homing, if you want to think on it for a little while,

then that's an option to you as well.

'At that stage, when I'm looking at him'

and talking to him, I've got no absolutely no grounds

whatsoever to even start pushing the issue at all.

It has got to be his decision.

-I think, for his sake...

-Do you?

-Yeah.

OK, sweetheart. Well, I'll go and make a phone call.

Because I don't like leaving him on his own,

-and he doesn't like being left on his own.

-They don't.

-They don't like being left alone.

-He does cry quite a bit.

Does he?

From an initial call about a dog beating,

this job has totally changed course.

Oh, you are wonderful.

I'm just going to literally do the paperwork with him now,

have a little chat, and then we'll bring him down, all right?

With the local re-homing centre willing to take Rocky on,

Jayne can go and deliver the news to Martin.

Sounds awful,

but this is one less expense that you're going to have to worry about,

in terms of, you know, vet fees and food, and things like that.

And I know that that's not what you think about when you own an animal.

I can't understand why somebody's said something like this because...

Yeah.

For him, yeah.

Well, Martin, I can give you my absolute word that we'll look after

him, OK, and we'll find him a really smashing home.

And I appreciate that it's a tough decision for you, all right?

I understand that.

It's difficult for Martin to say goodbye.

Come on, then.

Bye, Rocky.

And Rocky is clearly finding it hard to leave, too.

Come on, mate. Come with your dad. Come on.

Come on. Good boy.

It's an awkward one. I feel very sorry for him.

But at least that was a resolution for that dog.

Rocky is taken to the local re-homing centre...

-Come on, then.

-..where he'll be given a fresh start.

My personal suspicion is that this dog has got fleas.

Maybe some mites, which can be causing the fur loss.

It's very common in Staffies, Staffy crossbreeds, so the staff here

will make sure that he goes to see a local vet as a priority,

and his skin condition will clear up, I'm absolutely sure of that.

His future is secure now,

'in the sense that he will be re-homed through our processes'

and hopefully he'll find his forever home, and he'll be happy there.

He's got a lovely temperament,

and I'm absolutely certain this dog will make somebody a fantastic pet.

And he'll re-home very quickly.

A wet and windy day on Northumberland's coast

would have most people running for cover.

But RSPCA inspectors are out on call, whatever the weather.

Inspector Jaqui Miller's on her way to a sea bird in distress.

It was described by the member of the public as a large black bird

with a large beak.

And the only bird that I'd seen really fitting

that description is a cormorant.

The holiday-makers who spotted the bird show Jaqui the way.

But this is no gentle stroll along the beach.

'It was quite a hike from the van to the actual beach area.'

It was hard to see when all your hair's blowing everywhere.

Sensibly, the bird's taken refuge out of the wind,

and Jaqui's pleased the callers can point her straight to it.

'It was quite a grey and dull day.'

And obviously the bird is dark in colour as well,

so it was quite hard to spot.

The bird's hiding behind a rock.

Ah, you can see him right there.

But at first glance, Jaqui's not sure what it is.

Right, OK.

'For me, it's pretty rare to see such a bird like this.

'I've only ever seen one large bird like this before,'

and it was a large adult gannet.

And although it's clearly in distress, it's not clear why.

It didn't appear to have any wing injuries,

it didn't appear to have anything wrong with its head.

'I just couldn't figure out what was wrong with it,

'and why it wouldn't move.'

It's almost shaking.

'If you're going to an injured wild animal,

'you can't sort of dilly about when you're catching them.'

A lot of them will die from stress,

rather than actually the injuries that they've got.

You need to be confident and you need to try and do it in one go.

It's time for her most trusted bit of kit. The bath towel.

BIRD SQUAWKS REPEATEDLY I know. I know.

'The plan was to scoop it up, get it straight in the box.'

Unfortunately it was a bit bigger than what I thought

it was going to be, and it was a little bit more wriggly.

'And then it didn't help that the wind's blowing

'the towel in one direction, and my goggles are falling off,

'because they're too big.' SHE LAUGHS

Right. OK!

BIRD SQUAWKS

He may not be happy, but the mystery bird is safely in the box.

Go on, big lad. We'll get you secure in here.

And Jaqui can now get him some help.

I think that went all right. Good old towel.

Jaqui heads for the Berwick Swan And Wildlife Trust,

-which treats maritime birds.

-Hiya!

And she's in for a surprise.

He's a gannet? A young one? Oh, OK.

You know, the lady's telling me it's a juvenile gannet.

'I'd never seen a juvenile gannet before.

'You learn things every day.

'You know the difference between a healthy animal

'and an unhealthy animal, but you might not necessarily know

'the species, and that's why we go to people with specific knowledge,'

'and they can tell us exactly what they are.

With the bird confirmed as a juvenile gannet,

the next step is to find out what's wrong with it.

-Can he stand?

-He did stand in the box.

But he just... He just feels wobbly.

Oh, that's not nice, is it?

That's skinned the whole toe there, look.

He's probably just been battered in the sea.

The gannet's been a victim of the weather.

-It was very windy yesterday wasn't it?

-Yeah.

And he's in good company.

'The reason they'd been brought in that day is because

'we'd had high winds, and high tides.

'And a lot of them had been bashed up against the rocks.

He's was quite winded, almost.'

And quite exhausted, because of what he'd had to fight against,

the previous 24, 48 hours.

Are you all right, wibbly?

He's actually de-gloved one of his toes.

It's not bleeding or anything, so what happens is,

they will keep him in here, and they'll feed him up,

give him some rest, some TLC and hopefully get him back out.

And he looks like he'll live up to his name.

-Oh!

-He's trying. That's good.

Couldn't quite get it down, but he was interested straightaway,

to take it off them. Which is a really, really good sign.

It's really quite encouraging to see him interested in the fish.

I think he's going to be good. A couple of weeks, then he'll be out.

Back out on those seas, eh, matey?

And it's certainly been a productive day for Jaqui.

I've learnt a lot today.

About gannets and about how they go away,

and that this is supposedly this year's chick.

And how they go away for a couple of years and come back white.

We learn things on the job all the time.

It's definitely one for the memory bank,

to remember what they look like.