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This programme contains some scenes which some | 0:00:02 | 0:00:03 | |
Tonight the animal owners who claimed that one of our best loved | 0:00:04 | 0:00:12 | |
charities is being too hard on them. It is the way they handle things. It | 0:00:13 | 0:00:18 | |
is their away or the highway. The British public backs the RSPCA to | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
prosecute animal cruelty, but does it always get it right? To be told I | 0:00:23 | 0:00:27 | |
was mistreating birds of prey has left me feeling absolutely broken. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:34 | |
And is the charity so determined to succeed it ignores the human cost? | 0:00:35 | 0:00:40 | |
It went on for years and years, and it ground me down. I still feel | 0:00:41 | 0:00:47 | |
injured. Former RSPCA insiders worry there is chaos at the top. I | 0:00:48 | 0:00:52 | |
personally think that the RSPCA commentary is not fit for purpose. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:58 | |
We ask is the world's oldest animal charity doing its best to keep | 0:00:59 | 0:01:00 | |
public trust? We love our animals. My dog is | 0:01:01 | 0:01:29 | |
called Bertie. Shall we go for a run? He is going to be my sidekick | 0:01:30 | 0:01:35 | |
on this investigation. Or is it the other way around? Where is the | 0:01:36 | 0:01:43 | |
stick, Bertie? He's half toy poodle and half with it, so he will keep me | 0:01:44 | 0:01:52 | |
on my toes. -- half whippet, so he will keep me on my toes. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:57 | |
Sometimes... It feels like he's the master and I'm the dog. Woofety woof | 0:01:58 | 0:02:06 | |
woof woof. Some animals don't get love and affection like Bertie. That | 0:02:07 | 0:02:12 | |
is why we need the RSPCA. The RSPCA has a full-scale rescue service... | 0:02:13 | 0:02:18 | |
It has been standing up for animals since 1824. The RSPCA gets more than | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
?100 million per year in donations and legacies. Its inspectors see | 0:02:24 | 0:02:30 | |
some extremely distressing sights. From stray dogs shown in this | 0:02:31 | 0:02:37 | |
campaign video, outright cruelty. All of these dogs, filmed by an | 0:02:38 | 0:02:44 | |
inspector, died. Many of them are in rigor mortis already. The RSPCA | 0:02:45 | 0:02:51 | |
prosecuted the dog breeders who did this. They didn't go to jail but | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
were banned for life from owning dogs. The charity's most powerful | 0:02:55 | 0:03:06 | |
weapon in protecting animals is bringing private prosecutions. But | 0:03:07 | 0:03:13 | |
some animal owners complain it is being too heavy-handed. This is the | 0:03:14 | 0:03:21 | |
RSPCA headquarters here in Sussex. Critics say the charity has long | 0:03:22 | 0:03:26 | |
been too quick to prosecute animal owners and too aggressive. Three | 0:03:27 | 0:03:30 | |
years ago in independent report took the charity to task over the way it | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
prosecutes people. How much has changed? Good morning. This is | 0:03:36 | 0:03:52 | |
Bertie. Hello, Bertie. Steve Rainton has been displaying birds of prey | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
for 20 years. He has now helped by his partner, Natalie. -- he is now | 0:03:57 | 0:04:02 | |
helped. Amazing, we've had her for five years. Stand well back... Last | 0:04:03 | 0:04:10 | |
year Steve and Natalie faced getting criminal records when they were | 0:04:11 | 0:04:19 | |
prosecuted by the RSPCA. Good girl. Steve said it all started when | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
somebody he knew took four birds from his farm. Worried the rest of | 0:04:24 | 0:04:30 | |
the birds were at risk Steve took them home in cages for temporary | 0:04:31 | 0:04:38 | |
safekeeping and rang the RSPCA. Originally we asked the RSPCA for | 0:04:39 | 0:04:42 | |
some help. Where we were keeping the birds wasn't safe and we needed | 0:04:43 | 0:04:46 | |
somewhere else to keep the birds. What Steve didn't know was that the | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
RSPCA had received a complaint about him mistreating the birds. When | 0:04:51 | 0:04:55 | |
inspectors called at his home he let them in. He wished he hadn't. Once | 0:04:56 | 0:05:03 | |
they were in they started taking photographs, you know, trying to | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
gather evidence against me. And that's the way I felt bullied by the | 0:05:08 | 0:05:15 | |
RSPCA. RSPCA inspectors do not have powers of seizure, so they called | 0:05:16 | 0:05:19 | |
the police who took Steve's birds away. Steve was charged by the RSPCA | 0:05:20 | 0:05:26 | |
with eight animal welfare offences. Natalie, who does not own the birds, | 0:05:27 | 0:05:34 | |
also faced eight charges. They used my partner. They basically said they | 0:05:35 | 0:05:38 | |
would drop all charges against my partner if I took the rap, | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
basically. I'd never broken the law. I've never been in trouble. To be | 0:05:43 | 0:05:45 | |
told I was mistreating birds of prey, it just left me feeling... | 0:05:46 | 0:05:55 | |
Absolutely broken. Earlier this year magistrates cleared Steve and | 0:05:56 | 0:06:01 | |
Natalie of two charges. The other 14 were dismissed. The RSPCA says it is | 0:06:02 | 0:06:07 | |
because of police mistakes. The whole thing of them being there to | 0:06:08 | 0:06:14 | |
help you come in my case, wasn't the case. Up until the day they knocked | 0:06:15 | 0:06:18 | |
on my front door while we saw them as a good charity. -- to help you, | 0:06:19 | 0:06:25 | |
in my case. The RSPCA said it acted properly and lawfully throughout. | 0:06:26 | 0:06:29 | |
There was sufficient evidence. And that it was in the public interest. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:37 | |
It says it prosecuted around 800 people last year, down by 50% in | 0:06:38 | 0:06:45 | |
four years. If an RSPCA inspector investigates a complaint of cruelty, | 0:06:46 | 0:06:50 | |
that person has less than one chance in 200 of being prosecuted. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
Certainly not trigger-happy. Most of it is now dealt with by way of | 0:06:55 | 0:06:59 | |
advisory notices and warnings. In fact most of it is dealt with by a | 0:07:00 | 0:07:02 | |
reasonable conversation on the doorstep. Giving reasonable advice. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
Reasonable people take reasonable advice. The RSPCA and its inspectors | 0:07:06 | 0:07:14 | |
do good work. No question. And criticising a much loved animal | 0:07:15 | 0:07:18 | |
charity may not make me popular. But what can happen to an animal owner | 0:07:19 | 0:07:23 | |
if there is no reasonable conversation on the doorstep? If no | 0:07:24 | 0:07:24 | |
advice is given? Gwyn Protheroe farms over 5000 sheep | 0:07:25 | 0:07:40 | |
in mid Wales. These sheepdogs are working animals. Without them he | 0:07:41 | 0:07:45 | |
cannot do his job. Last year the RSPCA prosecuted Gwyn | 0:07:46 | 0:08:05 | |
following the death of one of his dogs. She was a working dog. It's | 0:08:06 | 0:08:10 | |
not clear why she died. But she was thin and had been a small dog from | 0:08:11 | 0:08:17 | |
birth. From the vet's report and postmortem done by the RSPCA they | 0:08:18 | 0:08:19 | |
found a problem with her liver and her heart. The dull blade unburied | 0:08:20 | 0:08:27 | |
for two days. She died while Gwyn was working 60 miles away. An RSPCA | 0:08:28 | 0:08:33 | |
inspector called the police, who removed the dog and two are the | 0:08:34 | 0:08:40 | |
sheepdogs. -- with the dog lay unburied. The RSPCA said he hadn't | 0:08:41 | 0:08:47 | |
done enough to prevent the death and that living conditions were poor. He | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
was charged with three animal welfare offences. It's the way they | 0:08:52 | 0:08:59 | |
handled things, you know? It is their way or the highway, basically, | 0:09:00 | 0:09:05 | |
you know? The case took a year to come to court and had a big effect | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
on the family. What was it like when he was charged? Scary. It wasn't a | 0:09:11 | 0:09:18 | |
nice feeling. I felt really bad for dad because he isn't a bad person. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:26 | |
He didn't really, like, deserve it. What did you say to them? That it | 0:09:27 | 0:09:40 | |
would all be all right? Which it was proved, wasn't it? I'm sorry... | 0:09:41 | 0:09:54 | |
A judge dismissed the case, saying Gwyn has considerable expertise as | 0:09:55 | 0:10:01 | |
an animal owner and acted reasonably. How did you feel when | 0:10:02 | 0:10:08 | |
that verdict came through not guilty on all counts? Relieved. A sense of | 0:10:09 | 0:10:18 | |
justice. Because he was cleared the dogs should have been returned. But, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:24 | |
extraordinary as it seems, they were not. RSPCA staff asked if they could | 0:10:25 | 0:10:32 | |
keep the dogs and re-homed them. I got a phone call, she asked the | 0:10:33 | 0:10:36 | |
question again, the people in the kennels have got attached to the | 0:10:37 | 0:10:40 | |
dogs. The RSPCA said it kept hold of the dogs while it considered to | 0:10:41 | 0:10:48 | |
appeal. It would be two months before they found out if they would | 0:10:49 | 0:10:52 | |
get their dogs back. I couldn't work out why they wanted to keep, again, | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
prolonging the process of us getting the dogs back. You keep thinking | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
everything is coming to a close. But it was like they were ripping the | 0:11:02 | 0:11:09 | |
wound open again. The RSPCA says it was right to prosecute. And while | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
some cases don't succeed 92.5% of its prosecutions are successful. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:22 | |
There is very, very rigorous process by which the evidence is checked to | 0:11:23 | 0:11:27 | |
make sure we meet the evidential test. When we get the expert in we | 0:11:28 | 0:11:31 | |
depend on an independent better in every opinion as to the degree of | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
suffering. Once the matter goes to court it is for the magistrate to | 0:11:36 | 0:11:43 | |
convict or acquit. -- independent vet opinion. Fighting animal cruelty | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
is important but has the RSPCA sometimes gone too far? Barrister | 0:11:47 | 0:11:53 | |
Jonathan Rich stopped defending RSPCA cases nine years ago. I gained | 0:11:54 | 0:12:01 | |
a firm impression that I was really being personally targeted. It | 0:12:02 | 0:12:07 | |
reached a stage where my involvement in cases was actually not helping my | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
clients, because they would throw significant resources at any case in | 0:12:13 | 0:12:19 | |
which I was involved. He also faced a number of professional misconduct | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
complaints linked to animal welfare cases. Two from the RSPCA. I have | 0:12:24 | 0:12:29 | |
seen a lot of the rough and tumble of the bar. But this was in an | 0:12:30 | 0:12:35 | |
entirely different league. And it went on for years and years and | 0:12:36 | 0:12:41 | |
years, and it ground me down. I still feel today, I still feel | 0:12:42 | 0:12:49 | |
injured. None of the complaints succeeded. One from the RSPCA took | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
eight years to be fully resolved. I got pretty low. I was treated for | 0:12:54 | 0:13:02 | |
depression. I'm not embarrassed to say that. Do you still defend animal | 0:13:03 | 0:13:10 | |
cases? If the RSPCA are involved I will not be appearing as an | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
advocate. Which is a great shame, given the expertise I believe I | 0:13:15 | 0:13:20 | |
brought. Barrister Sara-Lise Howe believes she has been singled out, | 0:13:21 | 0:13:25 | |
too. She says the CPS was warned she wanted to undermine RSPCA private | 0:13:26 | 0:13:32 | |
prosecutions. I have no doubt that they have been targeting me. I was | 0:13:33 | 0:13:41 | |
16 years in court, I'd never had these accusations. Just trying to | 0:13:42 | 0:13:44 | |
represent my client. To get the court to look at the law. The RSPCA | 0:13:45 | 0:13:50 | |
says the criticism to the CPS about Sara-Lise Howe was made in error and | 0:13:51 | 0:13:57 | |
not at their request. It respects and upholds the vital role played by | 0:13:58 | 0:14:00 | |
defence lawyers in testing the prosecution's case. For the RSPCA to | 0:14:01 | 0:14:13 | |
do its job properly it must be well run. This June the Chief Executive | 0:14:14 | 0:14:20 | |
Jeremy Cooper resigned. The second to do so in three years. Trouble at | 0:14:21 | 0:14:26 | |
the top should be a worry for any charity. If I am a donor I want to | 0:14:27 | 0:14:32 | |
know my money is going to be well spent. And the chances are | 0:14:33 | 0:14:38 | |
significantly higher that my money as a donor is going to be well spent | 0:14:39 | 0:14:43 | |
if the charity is well governed, well led, sound decisions are made. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:52 | |
The RSPCA staff are overseen by 25 unpaid trustee is called the | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
council. They are supposed to keep an eye on things, not run the show. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:03 | |
One of the key rules, really, is that trustees in a large charity | 0:15:04 | 0:15:08 | |
shouldn't really dabble in operational matters. That is for | 0:15:09 | 0:15:15 | |
paid staff. But we've discovered that's what's been going on at the | 0:15:16 | 0:15:22 | |
RSPCA. Chris Lawrence used to be the charity's chief vet before he became | 0:15:23 | 0:15:30 | |
a trustee. The RSPCA are essentially is a great organisation. Fantastic | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
staff who work incredibly hard. But you come to a point where you have | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
to say enough is enough, I can't any longer support the way this is | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
happening. I had real concerns about the way the RSPCA was being run at | 0:15:43 | 0:15:48 | |
council level. He's never spoken publicly about leaving the charity | 0:15:49 | 0:15:49 | |
he loves. The Council found it really | 0:15:50 | 0:15:58 | |
difficult to properly delegate. What does that mean? It means almost | 0:15:59 | 0:16:03 | |
micromanagement. Chris Laurence resigned as a trustee last year. His | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
fellow trustee, David Canavan, is still there. The RSPCA spends ?50 | 0:16:09 | 0:16:16 | |
million a year responding to complaints from the general public | 0:16:17 | 0:16:22 | |
about abuse of animals. He's speaking to MPs about fundraising. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
The two years, the RSPCA allowed him and another trustee to run the | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
charity on paid, while it was without a chief executive. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:36 | |
For any charity, doing both jobs at the same time, for such a long time, | 0:16:37 | 0:16:41 | |
would be a no-no. For a large charity, that is off the | 0:16:42 | 0:16:48 | |
scale, in terms of being so unusual. I find it difficult to see how a | 0:16:49 | 0:16:54 | |
large charity could properly run itself if it doesn't have a | 0:16:55 | 0:16:59 | |
permanent chief executive who is independent from the nonexecutive | 0:17:00 | 0:17:08 | |
trustee teamer. -- team. This is the Manchester Animal Hospital, the | 0:17:09 | 0:17:15 | |
RSPCA's busiest. It provides extremely subsidised neutering, | 0:17:16 | 0:17:20 | |
micro-chipping, vaccinations, to quite a poor -ish area within | 0:17:21 | 0:17:27 | |
Manchester. Three years ago, Steve Carter was asked to look at | 0:17:28 | 0:17:31 | |
redistributing some of its vet services to branches across the | 0:17:32 | 0:17:34 | |
North of England. Among them, Rochdale, 60 miles away. -- 16 miles | 0:17:35 | 0:17:42 | |
away. It was a branch that struggled financially. It tried to do the best | 0:17:43 | 0:17:49 | |
it could, but it overextended itself. Steve Carter says getting | 0:17:50 | 0:17:54 | |
more vet services could have helped Rochdale's finances and says David | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
Canavan was keen on the move. At the time, he was also an unpaid trustee | 0:17:59 | 0:18:03 | |
of the Rochdale branch. That's a conflict-of-interest, isn't it? I | 0:18:04 | 0:18:09 | |
believe it is. I made it very clear to trustees and two senior | 0:18:10 | 0:18:12 | |
management that this was not a decision I could support in any way, | 0:18:13 | 0:18:18 | |
shape or form. Steve feared it could have meant closure for the | 0:18:19 | 0:18:23 | |
Manchester Animal Hospital. I did not want to see that provision | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
deteriorate in any shape or form. That was one of the main reasons | 0:18:29 | 0:18:33 | |
that I decided I had to leave the RSPCA. The RSPCA says it did discuss | 0:18:34 | 0:18:38 | |
its Northern operations. No changes were made and there was never any | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
suggestion the Manchester hospital would close. It says there was no | 0:18:43 | 0:18:50 | |
improper interference by David Canavan and as acting chief | 0:18:51 | 0:18:54 | |
executive he oversaw a period of stability and sound management. | 0:18:55 | 0:19:07 | |
Brighton, a stone's throw from RSPCA HQ. We've been told that what | 0:19:08 | 0:19:12 | |
happened here reveals more cracks behind the scenes. Nationally, the | 0:19:13 | 0:19:19 | |
RSPCA has a policy against anyone importing dogs for commercial | 0:19:20 | 0:19:24 | |
purposes. But here in Brighton, the local | 0:19:25 | 0:19:29 | |
branch was re-homed scores of dogs from Spain and Portugal in apparent | 0:19:30 | 0:19:38 | |
conflict with that policy. Around 150 dogs over three years | 0:19:39 | 0:19:42 | |
were imported by another animal welfare organisation, and brought to | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
these RSPCA kennels. They were then re-homed. The Brighton branch had | 0:19:47 | 0:19:53 | |
lots of British Staffies, which are hard to home, and was keen to offer | 0:19:54 | 0:19:59 | |
a mix of breeds. The RSPCA said the dogs were not being imported for | 0:20:00 | 0:20:04 | |
commercial purposes. The RSPCA told us the Brighton | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
branch didn't profit from re-homing these animals, but we found out the | 0:20:09 | 0:20:14 | |
issue did worry some staff. They couldn't support others transporting | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
animals hundreds of miles across Europe, when there were plenty of | 0:20:18 | 0:20:24 | |
British dogs to help at home. Trustee David Canavan got involved | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
in 2014. At the time he was also effectively running the charity. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:35 | |
We understand that David Canavan told the branch that so long as 40% | 0:20:36 | 0:20:38 | |
of the dogs in my kennels were brought to them by inspectors, they | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
could fill the remaining space is how they wanted, providing the | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
trustees and legal department didn't object. | 0:20:47 | 0:20:54 | |
The RSPCA said any suggestion David Canavan acted contrary to its | 0:20:55 | 0:21:01 | |
policies is completely untrue. He referred the matter to the Chief | 0:21:02 | 0:21:06 | |
Vet and the RSPCA revised its policy, so the branch had to get | 0:21:07 | 0:21:12 | |
permission on a case-by-case basis. It says the branch was trying to | 0:21:13 | 0:21:17 | |
help as many unwanted dogs as it could, and its main focus remains | 0:21:18 | 0:21:22 | |
local animals. At the top is the RSPCA a smoothly | 0:21:23 | 0:21:29 | |
running organisation? I personally think that the RSPCA, | 0:21:30 | 0:21:35 | |
currently, is not fit for purpose. I think it stems from the background | 0:21:36 | 0:21:40 | |
of counsel. I don't think the government process and structure has | 0:21:41 | 0:21:42 | |
moved on much since the 1970s. Wipe-out this is the headquarters of | 0:21:43 | 0:21:53 | |
the Charity Commission, it's the body charged with making sure our | 0:21:54 | 0:21:58 | |
charities are up to snuff. It told Panorama that the RSPCA's governance | 0:21:59 | 0:22:03 | |
is below the standard it would expect from a modern charity. It is | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
monitoring the trustees' role in leading change will consider | 0:22:08 | 0:22:11 | |
regulatory action if the required improvements aren't made quickly | 0:22:12 | 0:22:17 | |
enough. The RSPCA says its trustees are working with the Charity | 0:22:18 | 0:22:22 | |
Commission to implement the recommendations of a recent | 0:22:23 | 0:22:23 | |
independent review. The RSPCA has its own reform agenda. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:38 | |
It wants for more powers to investigate, so it has to rely less | 0:22:39 | 0:22:43 | |
on the police. Its supporters say only the charity has the necessary | 0:22:44 | 0:22:47 | |
expertise and resources to prosecute. Critics argue it should | 0:22:48 | 0:22:52 | |
be left to the police. The type of cruelty that the public disapproves | 0:22:53 | 0:23:00 | |
of is obvious. It doesn't require a specialist organisation to | 0:23:01 | 0:23:01 | |
prosecute. I'm on my way to see one of | 0:23:02 | 0:23:14 | |
Sara-Lise Howe's clients. Sarah Mellanby lost her appeal against | 0:23:15 | 0:23:18 | |
conviction for seven animal welfare offences earlier this year. That | 0:23:19 | 0:23:25 | |
some of my cats there. That's Leonard and Elmo. Puff Daddy, Thomas | 0:23:26 | 0:23:31 | |
O'Malley and that's Hubert. Sarah used to a large home to shelter | 0:23:32 | 0:23:37 | |
unwanted cats. So who have we got here? That is Lionel Blair. LAUGHTER | 0:23:38 | 0:23:45 | |
I know, super hair. Dennis the Menace, Charles Worthington. Some | 0:23:46 | 0:23:48 | |
people would say looking at this that you are a mad cat lady. Yes, | 0:23:49 | 0:23:55 | |
they probably would. Are you a mad cat lady? Guests. Where are your | 0:23:56 | 0:24:01 | |
cats? I don't have any. Four years ago she had more than 60. You had 60 | 0:24:02 | 0:24:11 | |
cats, 62 cats. Isn't that a bit crazy? Well, I'm too soft, I'm just | 0:24:12 | 0:24:19 | |
too soft. They were unwanted cats and I was homing them. Some of the | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
cats she took and had cat flu, which is contagious and can be nasty. I | 0:24:24 | 0:24:29 | |
kept them and kept them comfortable. It's not good, but they were alive, | 0:24:30 | 0:24:36 | |
they were as well as they could be. The RSPCA, which made repeated | 0:24:37 | 0:24:42 | |
visits, disagreed. It says some were emaciated, as well as cat flu others | 0:24:43 | 0:24:45 | |
had problems with their eyes and teeth. And it says she failed to | 0:24:46 | 0:24:52 | |
seek appropriate care from a vet. All her cats were removed and Sarah | 0:24:53 | 0:24:59 | |
was tried and convicted. I think a lot of the people who have | 0:25:00 | 0:25:05 | |
had problems with the RSPCA are people who would be described as | 0:25:06 | 0:25:08 | |
vulnerable. The mad old lady who takes into many cats, they have got | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
themselves into a mess for caring, because they care too much. I think | 0:25:14 | 0:25:16 | |
that is a big difference from someone who delights in seeing an | 0:25:17 | 0:25:23 | |
animal suffer. The RSPCA tried to help and advise Sarah. The appeal | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
judge said she was deaf to that advice and the idea that the RSPCA | 0:25:28 | 0:25:32 | |
were treating her harshly was not supported by the evidence. But he | 0:25:33 | 0:25:38 | |
did reduce her sentence, so, after four years, 21 cats could come home. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:45 | |
A vet who supported Sarah throughout, is no fan of the RSPCA. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:52 | |
What does somebody like Sarah do with cats that are left on her | 0:25:53 | 0:25:57 | |
doorstep? Take those cats in or discard them, shut the door and | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
leave them to die? What's the options? Yes, we know that a lot of | 0:26:02 | 0:26:05 | |
these cats were chronically infected with cat flu. They have been and | 0:26:06 | 0:26:11 | |
they will remain that way. The RSPCA asked the court to make | 0:26:12 | 0:26:19 | |
Sarah pay some of their costs. She now has a ?100,000 charge on her | 0:26:20 | 0:26:24 | |
home, to be paid to the RSPCA when she sells it. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:33 | |
My heart's been broken. They've just warn me down and I've been | 0:26:34 | 0:26:37 | |
depressed. They're just like this giant machine that just crawls | 0:26:38 | 0:26:42 | |
through people's lives and they've got no way of getting out of it. The | 0:26:43 | 0:26:47 | |
RSPCA says it prosecuted as a last resort. It was endorsed by the | 0:26:48 | 0:26:53 | |
appeal judge and the Crown Prosecution Service. The costs were | 0:26:54 | 0:26:58 | |
high because it took so long to conclude the case, and this was not | 0:26:59 | 0:27:06 | |
the RSPCA's fault. The RSPCA says it only prosecute | 0:27:07 | 0:27:11 | |
when mistreatment is serious, cruelty blatant and when other ways | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
to help animal and owner have been exhausted. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:23 | |
Back in Wales, the Protheroes are still waiting to hear if they'll get | 0:27:24 | 0:27:25 | |
their sheepdogs back. Three days after Panorama wrote to | 0:27:26 | 0:27:36 | |
the RSPCA, the dogs were finally returned. Can one if you open the | 0:27:37 | 0:27:44 | |
door while I left her in, please? Outside the Protheroes' | 0:27:45 | 0:27:47 | |
solicitors... It's a big relief. It's nice to see | 0:27:48 | 0:28:00 | |
them. They're looking OK, aren't you? Hope they'll be as happy to be | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
home as we are to have them home. The RSPCA says the delay in | 0:28:05 | 0:28:10 | |
returning the dogs was lawful and proper, while it decided whether to | 0:28:11 | 0:28:11 | |
appeal. For many, including its critics, the | 0:28:12 | 0:28:30 | |
RSPCA remains a great British charity. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:36 | |
I think the RSPCA is overall a force for good. The inspectors do good | 0:28:37 | 0:28:41 | |
work every single day, there are out there in all conditions. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:47 | |
Charity fight the RSPCA depend on more than donations, they also need | 0:28:48 | 0:28:54 | |
public support. Public trust and public confidence | 0:28:55 | 0:28:57 | |
in the work that charities do will only be sustained if charities are | 0:28:58 | 0:29:02 | |
seen to be doing the right thing. That means behaving in a | 0:29:03 | 0:29:05 | |
responsible, transparent and accountable way. | 0:29:06 | 0:29:12 | |
The RSPCA says it is committed to continually improving everything it | 0:29:13 | 0:29:18 | |
does. But to its critics, it stands accused of being a charity that | 0:29:19 | 0:29:23 | |
sometimes lacks charity - to humans. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:27 |