Castration nation

What other job means you get to watch several castrations, meet a cat with thumbs and eat cake all in the same morning...well, mine.

It’s sunrise, or maybe just after. I arrive in a car park next to an RSPCA branch in Brighton East Sussex. My breath comes out in vapour despite winter finally giving way to spring.

A queue of people is already forming. They stand in a straggly line in front of a large white RSPCA van with plastic cat cases in their hands.

The air is punctuated with plaintive cries from the felines within...these clever cats know something is going on...they just don’t know what.

The door to the van swings open and down steps a small woman with short hair and a business-like expression on her face. She starts taking the cats from owners.

I introduce myself nervously. She looks me up and down – from my crumpled RSPCA polo shirt to my pale face - and says: “I do hope you aren’t too squeamish. We’ve had three people faint on this bus I don’t want you to be the fourth.”

This is Nicky Honey, the RSPCA’s one-woman cat neutering dynamo!

Nicky Honey, with vet Alan. Two animal welfare heroes!

For the last 11 years her mobile clinic has become a familiar sight in car parks, outside supermarkets, pubs and community halls in south-east England. The mobile clinic provides low cost cat neutering operations to pet owners in the region's communities who are on low incomes and benefits.

Inside the mobile neutering van

Alongside her partner in crime (vet Alan), Nicky works anything up to 60 hour weeks because she is so passionate about the value of neutering – which is not only important to protect cats' health, but also in reducing the numbers of unwanted kittens.

A cat with thumbs!

Nicky tells me that one cat was brought in to be neutered after apparently having had 17 litters- which equates to around 150 kittens born to owners that did not want them and left to animal charities such as RSPCA and Cats Protection to pick up the pieces.

But the mobile clinic goes far beyond simple neutering. Nicky says sadly that one cat was brought in for neutering which was actually in labour, and the owner hadn’t realised. Nicky and the vet managed to save three of the kittens after doing an emergency caesarean.

Often the cats have other health problems when they are examined by the vet. One was brought in with a ruptured diaphragm and ear problems, mouth abscesses, fractures and gynaecological problems are all too common.

Nicky says the nature of the job involves many skills from nursing to plumbing. It can be quite intense and she has learned to expect the unexpected.


Today there are 14 cats; nine female and seven male. Apparently the procedure is more complicated for the gals than the guys.

I see a female spay first. Now please bear in mind that I am a bit on the softy side when it comes to animals – I was once almost hit by a car rushing to the centre of a duel carriage way to rescue a pigeon (it died in my arms)...

That rather emotional response to animals – and my dislike of blood –is why I highly suspected that I might just keel over at the first sight of blood.


However - all's well that ends well - I didn’t faint... and I got to meet a cat that had thumbs! Now that’s not the sort of thing you get to do every day. Afterwards, as reward for all my hard work (ie: not passing out), Nicky gave me a slice of cake. Nice.

Nicky Honey is an amazing woman, who really does dedicate her life to animals. I feel very privaliged to have spent the day seeing her work, and to have the opportunity to learn why neutering plays such an important part in the on-going fight to improve animal welfare.

By Calie Rydings, snr RSPCA press officer

Ghoulies, ghosties and long-leggety beasties

As night-time falls the creeping, slithering, stalking world arises, lit only by a pale-faced moon.

From ghoulies and ghosties, long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Halloween can be a lot of fun.

And, certain animals, including black cats and blood-sucking vampire bats, are perfect for evoking a sense of fear around this time of year.

Black cats have been the subject of much debate, fear and superstition for centuries. Depending on the part of the world you live in, or the time in history in which you lived, they could be associated with witches, anarchy, evil, demons, illness, prosperity, luck or even a storm at sea.

Today, superstitions about these cats still remain. This may be the reason why many animal charities – including the RSPCA and Cats Protection – report difficulties in rehoming black cats. In fact an RSPCA centre in Shropshire has designated October 'Black Cat Awareness Month' in a bid to rehome unwanted felines.

One such example of a beautiful black cat that keeps being overlooked is Trixie. This gorgeous two year-old girl has been through a lot in her short life.

Trixie was left totally bald on her back legs, and had to have her tail amputated after she was injured by a small child who had got hold of a pair of hair-straighteners. Sadly it is not unusual for RSPCA staff to see animals come into our care with horrific injuries caused either by accident, neglect or mistreatment.

Trixie is currently being looked after by a foster carer (another group of unsung heroes without whom the RSPCA couldn't continue to care for the thousands of animals it does), and they tell me that she is a lovely, affectionate and very placid cat - despite what she has been through.

Apparently she is fine with other cats, and even though her fur may never grow back, with lots of TLC she will grow in confidence and become a loyal companion for someone.

Not just that, but in the spirit of Halloween, Trixie has white marks on her sides - which means she is also rocking a rather fabulous Mortica Addams look!

If you are interested in giving Trixie a new home, please contact Lisa at RSPCA Northamptonshire on 07840 926122. To see other cats looking for good new owners, why not visit our rehoming pages on the website and brighten up a black cat's day?

Cat facts:

• In Florida, USA, some shelters halt black cat adoptions at this year. They say many people will adopt black cats simply for Halloween decorations, not because they want to provide a home to a new pet. Palm Beach also bans adoptions on Friday the 13th.

• It was once believed that a fisherman’s wife can protect her husband from dangers at sea by keeping a black cat

Few things are more chilling that the thought of a night creature that subsists on the living blood of another organism. Perhaps that’s why bats have lived in our haunted imaginations for thousands of years.

Even before Bram Stoker's book, Dracula, fear of blood-sucking animals was common, and many cultures from different periods have their own version of the story. However, a real bat is much more innocuous. Most subsist on insects. Of the hundreds of species of bats, only three actually drink blood - and only one drinks blood from mammals.

In fact, the RSPCA does a lot of rescue and rehabilitation work with bats – at all times of the year, not just Halloween!

A bat expert at our Stapeley Grange Wildlife centre has discovered a new way rehabilitating injured bats, and back in June we cared for 47 baby bats which were illegally removed from their roost, leaving them without a mother.

The pipistrelle babies were discovered in the box in Wiltshire by a member of the public along with two adult females, one with a fractured wing.

The baby bats, some "no bigger than a thumbnail", were all infested with mites and suffering from dehydration. The orphan pipistrelles are currently being hand-reared, round the clock, by a team of six "bat workers".

So that’s it for today’s blog. Just remember - most of the time we make up scary stories about certain animals just to entertain ourselves...but of course, that doesn't mean they're not lurking, just outside your window...

Bat Facts:

• Vampire bats adopt orphans, and are one of the few mammals known to risk their own lives to share food with less fortunate roost-mates.

• An anticoagulant from vampire bat saliva may soon be used to treat human heart patients and stroke victims.

Calie Rydings, RSPCA press officer

Cash-strapped shoppers want a bargain but also have values

I was surprised and pleased to learn that, despite difficult financial times, almost half of shoppers still say that the welfare of animals is extremely or very important when it comes to choosing their groceries.


The future also looks positive, with nearly a third of shoppers saying they expect to purchase more free range and high animal welfare products in the year ahead*.

The figures should be higher, of course, but it is an encouraging figure; although people want a bargain, many are also maintaining their values.

This trend is clearly having an effect on businesses, an increasing number of whom are trying to improve on animal welfare.

I recently helped out at the RSPCA Good Business Awards ceremony, where companies who are already going the extra mile for animals were recognised for their efforts. It’s great to see that some companies are recognising their responsibilities and responding to what consumers want.

The winning companies were clearly very pleased to be recognised by the RSPCA, and will hopefully be encouraged to do even more.

You can find out more about ‘good business’ by watching this film (click on the image below of Farmer Brown in his tractor)  which was shown for the first time at the awards ceremony.

Also, take a look at RSPCA Freedom Food’s new Hettie the Hen animation about welfare-friendly shopping (click on the image at the end of this post)!

The winners of the RSPCA Good Business Awards 2011  are……

For the third year running, Co-operative won the most public votes in the People’s Choice award, plus the award for Most Progress. Marks & Spencer received an award for Sustained Excellence, and Sainsbury’s picked up the prize for Excellence in Consumer Communications for its promotion of higher welfare food.

Riverford Organic (farms in Devon, Hampshire, Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire, delivers around the UK) won the Independent Retailer award, while Daylesford Farmshop (Kingham, Gloucestershire) and Edge and Son (New Ferry, Wirral) were highly commended.

Lussmans Fish and Grill Restaurants (St Albans, Hertford, and Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire) won the Independent Restaurant award, while Due South (Brighton) was highly commended.

The Feathers Inn (Hedley on the Hill, Northumberland) won the Pubs category for its commitment to animal welfare, including a food festival and expansion into catering. This is the second time they have won this award. Catering company Eco Cuisine was highly commended.

Both large and small fashion companies are also working hard to improve animal welfare.

High street favourite George at Asda was presented with the Large Company award for its work on traceability, while Beyond Skin scooped the Small Company award for producing desirable, ethical high fashion footwear at an achievable price.

Rapanui was given the Innovation award for its use of QR codes (a type of bar code) on product labels. Customers can scan the tag using a smart phone to view interactive information about the origins of the raw materials in the garment. The judges described the idea as ‘game changing’.

The Best Newcomer award was won by The North Circular and Frank and Faith were highly commended in the Small Company category.

*Source: IGD

Helen Coen, senior RSPCA press officer

Helping animals in danger - 400 feet up

Many moons ago - long before I entered the world of journalism and even longer before I entered life in the RSPCA press office - I worked for a year between school and university as a structural draughtsman and technician.

As someone who has never been the greatest fan of heights, perhaps the one moment that sticks in my mind was gingerly climbing to the top of a ladder and clinging onto an open bathroom window as if my life depended on it, as I attempted to take a measurement under the eaves of a house somewhere in Shrewsbury.


It was this rather obscure memory that came flooding back to me as I visited RSPCA inspector Richard Abbott recently on the glorious West Wales coast, to record a podcast all about his experiences as a key member of one of our rope rescue teams.


My ‘daredevil’ activities paled in comparison to Richard’s as he regaled me with tales of abseiling down 400ft cliffs above the crashing waves to rescue seabirds, and clambering down steep banks of loose shale with the prospect of being squashed by falling rocks and boulders to reach stranded livestock.


When you mention the RSPCA to most people, they immediately - and understandably - think of the fantastic work done by our rehoming centres, or our inspectors dealing with animals left in poor conditions as so often seen on television shows like Animal 24/7 and Emergency Animal Rescue.


Many don’t realise the vast levels of specialist expertise within the charity, especially in dealing with such potentially dangerous situations as faced by rope rescue teams, like those described to me by Richard.


Like all RSPCA inspectors, most of his time is conducted investigating complaints of cruelty across his patch that stretches out from north Pembrokeshire all the way up to south of Aberystwyth and across into mid Wales.

Due to the landscape of the area he covers though, he is called out to lead rescue operations to reach animals that find themselves stranded on perilous terrain that is often been previously untouched by humans before.


In his career as an RSPCA inspector he’s rescued all manner of animals using his rope rescue skills. From horses to sheep frightened down cliff faces by walkers’ dogs along the coastal paths, to dogs themselves whose over-adventurous nature sometimes finds them stranded.


It was just as I was bringing the interview to an end with Richard that he summed up the whole thing perfectly though. For him it makes no difference whether he has to rescue a hedgehog trapped down a drain or spend hours planning the safe recovery of a sheep stuck on a mountain ledge, bringing in fellow rope rescue trained inspectors from far and wide.

The situation makes no difference to him; the fact remains that they are both animals in danger. They might be worlds apart in terms of size and predicament, but they both need rescuing and that’s exactly what the RSPCA’s inspectorate does. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 days a year.

Andy Robbins, senior RSPCA press officer

Animal welfare is good for business

One of the things that has changed the most – and for the better - since I joined the RSPCA press office 10 years ago is a shift in consumer attitudes to animal welfare.

Consumers now know they can demand products that have been sourced and produced with animal welfare in mind, and companies recognise that animal welfare makes good business sense.

I can remember a time when it just didn’t occur to people to buy free range meat or to find out what the new coat they were buying was made of.

They just picked up a pack of chicken breasts from the supermarket shelf or item of clothing off the rack and were happy not to make the connection between the product they were buying and the fact that it came from a living animal.

Why have things changed? Well, I think TV programmes showing how farm animals are reared and slaughtered have helped raise awareness, and of course the RSPCA Freedom Food label has helped people make a higher welfare choice without having to spend much more on their weekly shop.

Supermarkets now actively advertise their higher welfare and free range products, and there are an increasing number of ethical fashion companies and retailers, with major clothing chains developing impressive ethical and traceability policies.

I think the fact that so many companies, large and small, enter the RSPCA’s Good Business Awards every year shows that they know that animal welfare is good for business and that they’re proud of the work they’re doing.


The awards were set up in recognition of the achievements of companies in the fashion and food industries that achieve higher standards of animal welfare.

Watch out for this year’s winners once they’re announced on 5 October and in the meantime, why not vote for the supermarket you think does the most for animal welfare in the RSPCA People’s Choice Award? The Co-operative, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Whole Foods Market have all been shortlisted.

Of course there’s still a lot that needs to change, from the way businesses operate to the way people shop, but I think we should be pleased with and proud of progress made in the last decade – I certainly am.

Helen Coen, senior press officer

Time for action on circuses.

from Katya

One of the key issues I have been involved with over the past few months is the campaign to get a ban on wild animals in travelling circuses – a campaign which is at a critical stage.

We think that gawping at animals such as elephants, lions and tigers performing tricks in circuses is an outdated and unacceptable form of ‘entertainment’, especially since they are likely to suffer in this environment.

And we are not alone. A month ago MPs from across the political parties agreed with us and voted unanimously for a ban at a high-profile debate in the House of Commons.

They spoke passionately about the issue and against government plans to introduce a licensing regime instead of a ban – and we were delighted that something looked as if it was finally going to happen.

However, we have since heard worrying reports that despite this vote the government may still not be going ahead with plans for a ban. This has made us extremely concerned and we are calling on the government to act.

The issue of wild animals in circuses is one that has struck a chord in many people. A government consultation showed that 94% of the want a ban and there was widespread upset after heart-rending footage of Anne the elephant being abused by one of her keepers at a circus was revealed.

But it is not just animals like Anne that we need to be concerned about. The issues involved with wild animals in circuses go deeper than outright abuse.

Research has shown that the conditions necessary to meet the welfare needs of wild animals are simply not feasible in circuses – where frequent travel, restricted movements, poor living conditions and loud noises are a regular part of daily life.

The animals spend most of their time confined to enclosures where they pace up and down for hours on end. They are transported in beastwagons, which have to be a certain size to be allowed on roads, and housed in temporary cages, typically ¼ of the size of those recommended in zoos.

Some animals are simply tethered to a peg on the ground – unable to move a few metres or socialise with others.

And all in the name of 'entertainment.'

Katya Mira

RSPCA press officer

A step back for lab animal welfare?




Helen Coen, senior RSPCA press officer

 

One of the hot topics I’ve been working on this week is the use of animals in research and testing.

On Wednesday the Home Office released new statistics showing that the number of scientific procedures using animals has topped 3.7 million in the UK for the first time since the current law regulating lab animal use came into force in 1986.

Here in the RSPCA press office we’ve been speaking journalists about our concerns that despite the fact that the public is consistently told that experiments using animals are only ever undertaken ‘where absolutely necessary’, we’ve seen an astonishing 37 per cent increase in animal use over the last decade. But whilst the numbers of animals used is very important, a really big concern is how much these animals actually suffer.

The story has appeared in lots of newspapers, websites and blogs, which is great news as I think many people don’t realise that animals are used in so many different areas of research and that such a large number of animals are involved.

Those representing science and industry often attempt to reassure the public by claiming that the UK has the ‘strictest regulations in the world’ and that ‘everything is done to the highest possible standards’. So you’d think that they’d want to keep these standards. But some of these same people are now lobbying for many aspects of the law to be watered down to the minimum baseline set by a new European directive on animal experiments.

Whilst these new EU controls will certainly represent a step forward for a number of other European countries, they fall short in many areas of what we have had here in the UK for a number of years.

Despite having the freedom to maintain our standards where they are higher, there is little convincing evidence that the UK Government will choose to do so. It could mean reduced government and local controls on animal use in the UK, lab animals being allowed to suffer ‘long-lasting, unalleviated, severe pain, suffering or distress’ and some animals such as dogs could be kept in even smaller housing.

Because of this, the RSPCA is campaigning for the current UK standards to be maintained at the very least. I’m passionate about this campaign as I think it’s really important for the public to know the facts.

I also think most people expect there to be tough controls on animal experiments, given the suffering they can cause.

I’ve already responded to a Home Office public consultation which is asking people how they think the directive should be implemented in this country.

If you’d like to take part in the consultation or find out more, there’s lots of information and tips on how you can help on the RSPCA’s Give Animals A Voice campaigning website.

Meanwhile, you might like to watch our fantastic new animation and also take a look at my colleague Penny Hawkins being interviewed on CBBC Newsround!

And if you are interested in finding out more about the issue of animals in research and testing more generally, you can find lots of great stuff on the RSPCA website.

Helen Coen, senior press officer