Sunday 17 October 2010

Killing The Competition...

It's what top predators do.

You don't want to be a cheetah or a leopard on the Serengeti when the area's lion pride comes calling. You won't survive. And if you're a coyote on the plains of Montana when Mr Wolf shows up (with his pals), don't think about asking him the time. Run.

It's harsh, it seems cruel to us, but it's nature.

Similarly, you don't want to be a small but well-supported local animal charity when the RSPCA shows up, mob-handed and ready to drive intruders off their turf:
The Rescuers Wildlife Sanctuary in Benfleet has been told to stop taking in poorly animals, pending the outcome of an investigation by the RSPCA.

It is bringing 17 charges of cruelty against the founders of the charity Veronica Mepham and her husband Rye.
Hmmmm. A case of an enthusiastic amateur outfit out of their depth and unable to cope?
Veronica, 70, who lives at the centre in Watlington Road, strongly denied the charges.

She said “We have put 30 years of blood, sweat and tears into the sanctuary.

“We are devastated by this. Looking after animals has been our lives. It’s our passion.

“I would never have harmed an animal.”

Despite suffering three strokes in recent years, Veronica has still maintained her work at the charity.

She does all the fundraising to pay for the care of the animals.
Clearly, that's where she's going wrong! She should be wining and dining with government honchos for taxpayer cash, or chasing elderly widows through the courts, like the big boys do...
The charity is well known in the community and Veronica regularly goes to schools for free with her animals to educate youngsters.

Squirrels from the sanctuary even became movie stars when they starred alongside Johnny Depp in the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
I wonder if that's what got up the notably publicity-hungry RSPCA's nose?

Oh, so, those charges. Any substance to them?

I guess we'll have to wait to find out:
The RSPCA court hearing is due to take place in November. A spokesman for the RSPCA would not confirm details of the charges at the time of going to press.
Comments are interesting, and should be read to a soundtrack of many axes being ground...

12 comments:

Captain Haddock said...

I learned long ago that the RSPCA aren't interested in helping or rescuing injured animals (I had personal experience when an injured Swan landed in our street, it had seriously damaged a wing on power lines).. unless there was a TV camera (or Rolf bloody Harris) to record their intervention ..

I wouldn't now give the RSPCA the steam off my piss, let alone my hard-earned money ..

They strut around in their psuedo-police uniforms as if they have some power over people .. when in fact, they're a complete waste of space ..

James Higham said...

Clearly, that's where she's going wrong! She should be wining and dining with government honchos for taxpayer cash, or chasing elderly widows through the courts, like the big boys do...

N'er a truer word.

richard said...

RSPCA court hearing? The RSPCA can't operate a court. Veronica should write to the "court" if she receives a summons, and say that she doesn't require arbitration in this matter and also state that if anyone suspects that a crime has been committed they are welcome to go to a cop shop and swear out a complaint. The RSPCA have probably just hired a courtroom. They look like police and act like police, but have no powers. I took a couple of stray cats to their shelter and was sent away because I couldn't guarantee they were vaccinated. How was I to know? They were strays! I said that since they weren't interested in helping strays maybe he would have preferred it if I'd tied them in a sack and flung them in the canal. "Then I would have prosecuted you" said the dick, giving me a thousand-yard stare that very nearly got him my boot in return.
NB the cats were re-homed by the Cat's Protection people, after I drove 40 miles, who kindly took the cats despite being short of space and I made a donation of cat-food and a small amount of cash, something the RSPCA will never get thanks to the unhelpful twat in their shelter.

RantinRab said...

The myth of authority over us all is perpetuated by the BBC programme. Have you ever watched it?

The strut about in there paramilitary uniforms trespassing on private property like a bunch of Poland invading Nazi fuck nuts.

Woman on a Raft said...

James Higham is correct. These cases have escallated since 2006 when the RSPCA made a whacking donation to Labour party and in return the Animal Welfare Act 2006 was passed. The RSPCA had also substantially drafted it.

The essence of the act was this:-

Originally, proving cruelty required proving the mental state, the intention, of the person inflicting it. So over-feeding a soppy old dog could not possibly be cruel because by no stretch of the imagination were the owners deliberately inflicting anything. They were just generous with the treats and lax with the walkies.

The 2006 act substituted a strict liability offence of causing or allowing unnecessary suffering.

So it isn't necessary to prove anything about the mental attitude of the person, only whether or not they have done it and that it was a disbenefit to the animal.

Robert Edwards said...

The dreadful Ms. Ballard used to be our local MP. A cabbie told me: "I had her in the cab once - she stank like a fucking badger". 'Nuff said.

JuliaM said...

"I learned long ago that the RSPCA aren't interested in helping or rescuing injured animals (I had personal experience when an injured Swan landed in our street, it had seriously damaged a wing on power lines).. unless there was a TV camera (or Rolf bloody Harris) to record their intervention .."

Ditto. With me, it was a very rude and unprofessional woman on their hotline when I called about a seemingly-lost racing pigeon.

Luckily, the Net gave me better advice and we were able to contact the owner and arrange collection via the Racing Pigeon Society.

The RSPCA will never get a penny from me.

"Veronica should write to the "court" if she receives a summons, and say that she doesn't require arbitration in this matter and also state that if anyone suspects that a crime has been committed they are welcome to go to a cop shop and swear out a complaint."

The cops won't care - they appear to have ceded authority in these matters to the RSPCA.

"The myth of authority over us all is perpetuated by the BBC programme. Have you ever watched it?"

I suspect the cases that feature on that are very, very carefully selected!

"The RSPCA had also substantially drafted it. "

How cozy...

"The 2006 act substituted a strict liability offence of causing or allowing unnecessary suffering."

Oh, lord, how I loathe strict liability offences! How did we ever allow this sort of mission creep in our legal system?

"The dreadful Ms. Ballard used to be our local MP."

Ah, OK. Who is Ms Ballard, and what's her connection to this? I couldn't see anyone with that name in the report.

Anonymous said...

Let me down time after time as a cop. I suspect cops should be looking at their books. Unlike Haddock, I would piss on them every time, except when they were on fire.

Woman on a Raft said...

Jackie Ballard - you remember, the gobby ex-MP who became CEO of the RSPCA in 2002. She directed the RSPCA in to becoming a lobbying organization.

Summary from wiki:

She became the Lib Dem MP for Taunton, at the 1997 general election. However, she lost her seat at the 2001 general election by 235 votes, to the Conservative candidate Adrian Flook.

During her time as an MP, Jackie was a very vocal and prominent campaigner against blood sports, in particular fox hunting and staghunting. Taunton is often seen as the centre of stag hunting in the United Kingdom and Jackie Ballard came under considerable pressure due to her stance, once having to receive police protection during a constituency surgery which was lobbied by hunt supporters.

It has been suggested that her work with regards to this ban - she co-sponsored the first bill - contributed to her losing her seat and prepared the way for her role as CEO of the RSPCA.

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

And that, children, is how the RSPCA turned from being a charity which was a bit soppy but liked animals in to a fantastically profitable monster for persecuting people.

It really shouldn't surprise us that Ballard used the LD's tradition of non-conformism in the West Country to disguise her iliberal views and trick her way in to a seat. Later you'd have been hard-put to identify her as a Lib Dem at all; she was all of a piece with the late Tony Banks.

The vord verification is "phockt"

I reckon it is evidence of The Quickening.

Raining cats and dogs said...

Under our new lords and masters, acts of kindness now come with an expensive tag.

Anonymous said...

Under NuLab and its successors, no good deed shall go unpunished...

JuliaM said...

"Unlike Haddock, I would piss on them every time, except when they were on fire."

:D

"...you remember, the gobby ex-MP who became CEO of the RSPCA in 2002."

Ahhh, comprehension dawns...

"Under NuLab and its successors, no good deed shall go unpunished..."

Indeed not.