RSPCA Brings Animal Abusers To Justice

He's bullish, sounds remarkably like Matt Crawford from BBC Radio 4's The Archers, and his organisation was accused of a lack of compassion and judgement on File on 4 last night. Phil Wilson, head of prosecutions at the RSPCA, told reporter Alan Urry that he took a 15 year old girl, first through the Magistrates courts, then to the High Court, for animal neglect, simply to prove a point of law. Both courts threw the case out.

The case involved the damaged tail of a family cat. The girl, who was not named for legal reasons, had found her cat with damage to its tail and had taken it to her father. Rather than seek immediate veterinary treatment, he decided to wait a few days to see how the tail healed. This was reported to the RSPCA who then successfully prosecuted the father for neglect.

The RSPCA then decided to prosecute the girl for following her father's advice, saying that she had a responsibility to act on her own volition, in the interests of the cat.

After telling the programme that the RSPCA was set up to bring animal abusers to justice, Phil Wilson said that the reason he put the girl through the ordeal was to:

"..to seek clarification from the High Court as to where the responsibility of a juvenile, who owned an animal, lay when their parents were aware of the animal's plight."

When confronted with the fact that this must have been distressing for the girl and that both courts dismissed the case, Mr Wilson was just as dismissive saying:

"That's the proper function of the court."

The RSPCA spent £8 million bringing around 1000 prosecutions last year. A number of ad hoc groups have sprung up, particularly amongst farmers and animal rescues, to protect themselves in response to the growing number of RSPCA prosecutions.

One group, The Self Help Group for Farmers, Pet Owners and Others experiencing difficulties with the RSPCA, (SHG) says that the Crown Prosecution Service, (CPS) should actively quality control all future RSPCA prosecutions. It says the CPS should take over such cases and consider dropping those which are clearly not in the public interest.

The SHG has called for a public inquiry into prosecutions brought by the RSPCA.

Last night, Frank Field MP (LAB), accused the RSPCA of criminilising children, the mentally ill and pensioners. He warned the RSPCA that if it continues with these types of prosecution, it will damage its future ability to raise funds.