 |
RSPCA PUTS POLITICS BEFORE ANIMALS
(Cutting Sunday Telegraph 14/5/01 by Jo Knowsley) Thankyou Imogen
A SENIOR staff member of the RSPCA has resigned and is now working for the Countryside Alliance because she believes that the RSPCA has grown too political and "no longer puts the interests of animals first".
Angela Egan worked as a branch development adviser for the RSPCA's London office for more than 10 years, drawn to the job by a deep-seated affinity with animals, particularly dogs. However, over the past 18 months she has become disenchanted with the society's attitudes towards a number of issues, including foxhunting.
She is concerned about the future of Britain's 20,000 foxhounds if hunting is banned and says not enough emphasis is being placed on "grassroots" animal welfare issues such as the care of cats and dogs.
She is also critical of city members who she says "often have no real understanding of country issues". However, the final straw came when she learned that the society had applied to the High Court to block the membership applications of people who also belong to pro-hunting groups.
"RSPCA volunteers do a fantastic job on the ground," she said. "I cannot praise them enough. But the society has become too political. The RSPCA has played a large part in my life for many years but I have become increasingly alarmed that its traditional, laudable concern for the key animal welfare issues and priorities are being subverted."
Miss Egan campaigned for the abolition of foxhunting in 1978. But 20 years on, "after closer examination of the issue and looking at the facts, I seriously began to doubt those views". "I believe now that hunting is actually humane. And a ban on foxhunting would leave thousands of hounds redundant," she said. "The RSPCA has said that they can be retrained and 'rehomed'. But these dogs are not well adjusted to, or suitable for, a domestic environment.
The more I researched the issue the more I knew that this could not happen. "The RSPCA also knows this - I have raised the issue with them myself - but they will not publicly admit it."
A spokesman for the RSPCA confirmed the society's line that the 20,000 foxhounds in Britain could be retrained or rehoused following a hunting ban. However, an internal RSPCA memo to Miss Egan, dated last month, shows that the society is aware of the potential problem. It advises her to use "a kind of catch-all statement" when discussing the issue but adds: "The onus [for the dogs] has to be on the Masters as responsible owners."
Miss Egan said she became "very concerned" when she learned of the RSPCA's move to block membership of people who belonged to pro-hunting groups. Shelving of applications from members of the Countryside Alliance and the Countryside Welfare for Animals Group began in December last year, but RSPCA staff were told only last month. The RSPCA has applied to the High Court for a decision on whether it could legally prevent people from joining the society.
Miss Egan said: "We had been dealing with complaints about a backlog in membership for months and we were telling people, in good faith, that this was because of problems with the computer. It was only in April that we received an internal memo which told us that 300 applications were being held in abeyance, and why. I was deeply uncomfortable
. "I have always been involved in country life and I know that animals are central to the lives of rural people. To deny them membership, or to imply that they are not animal lovers because they take a different view on an issue, is wrong.