Want to report animal cruelty in the UK- who should you call?

Reporting animal cruelty in the U.K can be confusing. Ask most people who they think of first when reporting animal cruelty in the U.K and you can almost guarantee they will answer RSPCA or Scottish SPCA. Ask them who they think is legally responsible for investigating and prosecuting animal abuse and you will probably get the same answer. But in reality this is not the case as they have only become the default agency because those who should be responsible show little appetite to get involved.

Many people do not realise that there are other official authorities they can contact.These include the police, local authorities and Department of Environment, Farming & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), who have all been happy to decry the RSPCA in the past but have shown little interest themselves, as it is an expensive and specialist area of law enforcement.

When the government introduced the all-encompassing new Animal Welfare Act 2006 they failed to appoint anyone to enforce it.

There is also a misplaced conviction that the Society has mythical powers of arrest, forced entry and seizure when the sad truth is that they have no powers at all. The other agencies do not have a statutory duty to bother only a moral one and because of this mindset the RSPCA have always stepped in to fill the breach. But not everyone is happy with this situation and many believe they should not be allowed to prosecute and police authorities, judges, the media and legal profession regularly condemn the RSPCA and state that there is a conflict of interest and they have muscled their way into becoming the default agency.

Ironically there would be little or no investigation or prevention of animal cruelty without their input as they prosecute over 90% of cases taken under the Animal Welfare Act, 2006 and they are the only organisation that collects statistics on cruelty, so without them we would not even know the level of animal abuse in the country. Basically the Police, our local authorities and DEFRA should in theory be playing a bigger role. Recently there has been a lot of hand wringing at suggestions of giving legal powers to the RSPCA even though most other countries have gone down this route successfully.

The National Police Chiefs Authority have stated that: ‘Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 there is no one agency that is held responsible or accountable for enforcement of animal welfare. This means there are inconsistencies, however the Police, local authorities and animal welfare charities do seek to work together to deal with serious cruelty to animals.’ 

reporting animal cruelty

So what is the real situation and who should you contact.

Reporting animal cruelty to the Police.

If you call a Police call centre they will usually automatically refer you to the RSPCA, but you should insist they attend if it is an emergency situation. The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) stated they are happy to: signpost reports of animal welfare to the RSPCA and only provide a police response in emergency cases’.

In all fairness the Police are overstretched and in reality are out of their depth or comfort zone when it comes to animal cruelty issues. Many officers no doubt have the attitude that they have better things to do. They also admit that their front-line officers rarely use or even know about the Act and many forces rely on a few ‘specialist’ dog and wildlife crime officers to deal with animals.

Reporting Animal Cruelty to DEFRA.

You can report many aspects of cruelty to the local Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) who are tasked with most aspects of the care, welfare and transport of livestock, slaughterhouses and animals in general, but the number of inspectors and inspections is woefully inadequate.

In 2016 they only managed to visit  1,676  farms out of  362,151 that were due inspection for animal welfare  just 0.46%. The potential for missed cases of suffering is huge.

Reporting animal cruelty to local authorities.

Local government authorities, usually the environmental health department inspectors, are responsible for licensing animal premises and welfare in dog breeding, pet shops, riding stables and most places where animal are kept. Like the Police they have no statutory duty to enforce the Animal Welfare Act.

But the Animal Welfare Act has discretionary powers for national and local authorities to appoint ‘inspectors’, but because of the cost and training required only 60% did so when the law was introduced, with many withdrawing them over the last decade due to the costs involved, and of these only 17% had inspectors dealing with companion animals.

In May 2020, Tracy Crouch, M.P. asked in the House of Commons how many animal welfare inspectors there were in Kent and was told the Government did not hold any such data under the Act and it was up to local authorities to “prioritise their resources”, so it seems the situation hasn’t changed.

Other Animal Charities.

Straying into areas involving campaigning against and prosecuting animal cruelty is contentious as well as expensive and risks alienating donors so most animal charities steer well clear and prefer instead to concentrate on the aftermath of irresponsible ownership and ill-treatment of animals.

Reporting animal cruelty in Scotland

Scotland approaches the subject differently and the Scottish SPCA (SSPCA) is designated a ‘Specialist Reporting Agency’, who report the facts of a case of cruelty to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. And it is they who decide whether the evidence warrants a prosecution and is in the ‘public interest’. In this way it protects the SSPCA from any criticism or blame of victimisation or conflict of interest.

Many believe this is the way forward and ensures an independent and unbiased approach, but in reality, with all agencies already giving cruelty a low priority because of funding restraints and staffing, plus having a differing viewpoint on what constitutes abuse from those who deal with cruelty daily, it would undoubtedly result in very few prosecutions being taken and remove any deterrent to those who harm animals.

The easy solution would be to give the RSPCA more powers following extra police training and other safeguards, the road many other countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the USA have gone down, but in our land of animal lovers we don’t seem to be able to get our head round the idea.

Paranoia over RSPCA powers.

What is wrong with our nation of animal lovers when we refuse to properly enforce and protect our animals?

In 2017 certain sections of the UK media reported, in their usual hysterical and overstated prose, that the RSPCA were in talks with the police and government seeking statutory powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to enforce the legislation without a police presence.This was deemed an outrageous idea by many of those who do not want animal welfare orientated people interfering in pursuits which involve suffering to animals.

Under English Law any person or organisation such as the RSPCA can bring a private prosecution against any law-breaker.

UK MP’s, Police chiefs and the Government at one point were all for trying to remove these mystical powers which didn’t exist in the first place as it is a long-established entitlement under English Law that any person or organisation can bring a private prosecution against any law-breaker under section 6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act (POA) 1985, so to stop the RSPCA would mean stripping every one of this right.

The national police Chiefs’ Council wanted them to “step back,” and for a government agency to take over prosecutions. Luckily the government ignored all the outcry as they finally realised that anyone can pursue a private prosecution not just the RSPCA and the alternative would cost tax-payers too much.

Those perpetuating suffering keen to join the bandwagon

Many institutions and organisations involved in some way in perpetuating suffering are more than happy to join the bandwagon in stopping the RSPCA as they know it frees them to do what they want without fear of investigation.

Simon Hart, UK Member of Parliament and a former head of the Countryside Alliance, an organisation dedicated to blood sports, was quick to jump in and stir up the controversy and  commented: ‘The RSPCA is a welfare charity not a private police force and the development is “appalling”’.

Tim Bonner the chief executive of the same organisation added The charity’s past record in this area would make it the last organisation on earth that you would want to grant powers of this nature to.

The RSPCA is continually and unfairly vilified for the work they do because of a complete misunderstanding of their role, which makes me extremely angry and disappointed. Having been involved in law enforcement I know how difficult it is to help these poor animals with one hand tied behind your back, constantly trying to be politically correct and facing unfair criticism.

UK lags far behind in their powers to enforce animal welfare laws.

Although in the UK there is consternation at the thought of the RSPCA being given legal powers, most other comparable countries have no such hang-ups and in this respect we lag far behind. Humane Society and SPCA officers in countries like the USA, Australia and New Zealand mostly have police powers and no one worries about them wearing police style uniforms.

New Zealand are way ahead of the game and the UK could learn a lot from them. The New Zealand SPCA is the only ‘approved organisation’ under their Animal Welfare Act 1999, so its 75 warranted Inspectors have exclusive powers to investigate and prosecute and have law enforcement training like the police and can issue fines and charge people.

They also run politically motivated campaigns for promoting law changes – all the things that anti-RSPCA lobbyists are keen to curtail in the UK. The main plus for ill-treated animals is that they have protectors exclusively with their interests at heart, fighting their corner, and pushing and deciding on prosecuting, uninfluenced by other interests.

Confusingly in Australia there is no national or Federal animal welfare act, but all eight states have laws which are enforced by varying state departments. Except for the Northern Territory, where the State authorities investigate and prosecute animal cruelty offenders, the SPCA inspectors have commendable powers to enter property and seize animals and evidence without police involvement, issue on the spot fines and warning notices and prosecute. In Western Australia the RSPCA, Department of parks and wildlife staff, police officers and local government officers all have powers as ‘general inspectors’ to enforce state animal law.

SPCA Inspectors are armed in many other countries.

In the USA, most Humane Society and SPCA officers have similar powers to the police and most of them are armed for protection. Government animal control agencies and sheriff officers also have powers and vets are encouraged to report cases of cruelty.

When I was a Humane Society inspector in the Bahamas, I was also a Royal Bahamian police officer which was extremely useful particularly when I needed ‘back up’, which was often!

The Federal Animal Welfare Act and other Federal Acts have little general anti-cruelty provision, but each State has its own cruelty and protection laws, often with higher penalties than the federal law and more stringent regulations. Since 2007 three-quarters of the States have much improved protection laws and there is apparently increasing support to regard cruelty as a felony and not a misdemeanor.

So what is all the panic about? Many misguided critics still want the RSPCA’s so-called ‘power of prosecution’ taken away from them, but if you are a true animal lover it’s about time that we got behind the RSPCA and for us to get in step with other countries around the world who see no problem in doing it right. Honestly, without the RSPCA no one would be interested in protecting our animals from cruelty – certainly not other animal charities who are too busy re-cycling unwanted pets.

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