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Joe Giltrap : RSPCA’s failure to live up to its name  THE
RSPCA is supposed to do what it stands for — namely the prevention
of cruelty to animals.
If the recent events in Buckinghamshire are anything to go by then perhaps
they should have a rethink of their lofty aims and claims.
A man who has been dealing in horses for about 25 years was running a
farm where the level of neglect to the animals defies belief.
I saw the images on television and I struggle to understand how anybody
can look at the poor animals on a daily basis and not be moved by their
plight.
According to one report it is estimated that up to 20,000 horses may have
suffered.
This did not happen overnight so a disturbing factor is the fact the RSPCA
had been made aware some years before that some things were not right
at this farm but still managed to do nothing.
An RSPCA superintendent admitted that although the owner of the farm was
known to them and they did have concerns about the horses they nevertheless
decided that conditions were at a legally-acceptable level during their
visits.
What exactly does legally-acceptable level mean in plain and simple language?
It sounds like spin and a major cop-out to me.
Did they not notice the dead and rotting carcasses?
Who was the person or persons who carried out the visits?
There are questions that need to be asked and answered and somebody should
be held to account.
If they neglected to do their job properly resulting in the continuing
cruelty and neglect of these defenceless animals then they should be held
accountable.
The real culprit of course is the man who was directly responsible for
the welfare of the horses.
These animals only represented money to him because he was selling them
abroad for meat.
He is thought to have bought animals from car parks near markets around
the country.
It is also thought that he might have been operating a knackers yard offering
to take away unwanted animals.
The RSPCA say they did not have the necessary legal power to remove the
suffering animals and eventually called in the police after a recent visit.
I would have thought that the simple fact that members of the public felt
strongly enough about it to report it would have ensured a thorough investigation
and decisive action long before now.
The fact that this individual was able to get away with it for so long
bears testament to the ineffective and downright useless monitoring by
the RSPCA.
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