Why are 99% of ISPCA/DSPCA A-holes?

Shewhomustbe...

I rang the ISPCA yesterday to find out some information about getting a stray cat neutered as I was told you can get a voucher towards the cost.

The individual I was speaking to couldn't have been a bigger A-hole than if they'd just hung up on me. I honestly don't know why people work/volunteer if they have absolutely no interest in being helpful.

This is the latest in a long list of times I've dealt with them and I can honestly say I've only ever had one person be nice to me.

Irish-Lass

Have you tried contacting Cats Aid in Dublin or the Dublin Cat Protection Agency....are you prepared to pay some of the cost yourself or do you want/expect them to cover it all.....just curious as I know a vet that does them very very reasonble in Dublin.

Is this a feral cat or one that comes into your house

Shewhomustbe...

She's the Mom of the two guys from my other thread, she doesn't come into the house, mainly as we won't let her cause of our rabbits, but she does come over to me when I call her.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=3161938#post3161938

I did get info from her about a vet in Longford that does spaying/neutering for them but it was her attitude that really ticked me off, she was so rude and indifferent.

celticphoenix

I think i know what your getting at about the rudeness of these people. A while back a friend of mine was in rented accomodation in Galway. Shes a cat lover and took in a stray but when she found herself in unfortunate circumstances and was forced to leave the house she felt that the best thing to do was to get it taken away to be re homed by the local animal welfare agency.
They came to collect the cat and totally looked down their nose at her and made her feel like she had personally done an injury to the cat in question. Admitedly it probably wasnt the best idea to foster a cat when her social situation was far from perfect and at that time when she was on social welfare. Despite this she still had to pay a €50 collection fee (which she really couldnt afford) and by the end of the confrontation she was in tears.
I really cant understand the behaviour of these people if they are volunteering for this kind of charitable work then surely their attitude would be more sympathetic than condescending. Naturally ill treatment of animals should be condemned but in the case of my friend their treatment of her was completely undeserving and they gave no thought to the emotional upheaval she was in having to say goodbye to her pet nor did they praise her for doing undoubtedly the right thing though it certainly caused her a lot of heartache in the process.

crazymonkey

I worked as a volunteer in the ispca in Longford, for a while and 99% of the ppl there were all paid staff, there was only two of us volunteering and the other guy got a job with them sometime later, As for them been A--holes, well what can i say, you get them everywhere...


P.s there was also a lot of fiddling going on there, top managers leaving the horse's in the stables to get cared for, and others taking home the large bags of dog food, for their own use,,

Shewhomustbe...

Looks like its across the board with these people then.
When I was living in Dublin I was doing rep work for a pet food company and would sometimes have to take returns from stores, which could be a number of cases. As I didn't have any pets I would bring these to the DSPCA in Rathfarnham, don't think I ever got a thank you. Makes me wonder why I bothered when I'm sure PAWS would have appreciated it more, and obviously need it more too. (Same happened at the new Longford centre)
I'm not going to bother with these people anymore and offer my support only to shelters.
A lot of negative stories going around about this "charity"

Sigma Force

Just be careful not to tarnish every rescue with the same brush, I have met about 40 people in person so far in rescue or involved with rescue and have mabey had handful of bad apples and they wern't all that bad in the end.
I'm sure there are some rude people involved just like in any other walk of life. ISPCA isn't connected to every rescue though.

We're very friendly down here in Tipp.....promise I've never been rude over the phone to anyone, unless I'm related to them of course (kiddin)

I could go down a whole list of rescues who do appreciate help and are greatful.

That said a thank you wouldn't kill any body rescues included. There are so many rescues, you don't only have to contact ones in your local area for advice or donations for example.

If anyone wants to donate through www.petbliss.com to guiena pig rescue I would phone personally and thank them very much (hint hint) ah, am only kiddin no pressure..honest

Shewhomustbe...

Guineapigrescue wrote:

Just be careful not to tarnish every rescue with the same brush

Apologies Guineapigrescue, I meant my brush to only tarnish the ISPCA/DSPCA.
I have the utmost respect for any and everyone involved in shelters.

Kingsize

My dad called the dspca begause of a case of a dog being neglected & treated cruelly in the nieghborhood.
weeks later a dspca guy came & was as grumpy as hell then did nothing but whinge & left the dog to it's life of misery.

Irish-Lass

I agree with Guineapigrescue not all rescues are the same, I have had good and bad experiences with all.

Recently I got a delivery of free cat food from a big pet company and I told the rep that there was no way the food was going to the DSPCA or the ISAPCA that it was going to groups that were on the edge and really needed the help and really really appreciate all they get............so the smaller rescue groups got it, then last week he rang to say hey want more free food, can't say no so the same groups will be helped. I am based in Dublin but the food has travelled as far as Leitrim

And guineapigrescue as I have met you, you are are

bladetrinity

Hi i had a rude experience, myself and my girlfriend just bought a house and we are both dog lovers ,what with renting appartments and not having space for a dog we decided to rescue a puppy from a shelter,i rang up number in newspaper and told the woman,she was very short with very condesending ,then said whats wrong with an older dog do they not deserve ahome ,fair enough but i wanted to give a pup a long life of happiness,not get attached to an older dog with maybe history of abuse and she snorted well weve nothing in at the moment well call you ,months went by and still no call ,in the end i got a pup off my sisters dog .which was fine but that woman made us feel like we were abusers.

Sigma Force

Blade, I can understand why a rescue would get frustrated, everyone is looking for puppies and think an older dog won't live long etc 7 years old is an older dog but can live for 7 more years or more if well cared for, not all older dogs come out of abused circumstances, some owners die or have to move and cant take the dog with them or have a baby and want to dump their older dog (for no good reason) etc.

You said you rang for a pup because you didn't have the space for a dog..but pups grow into dogs ..what then lol

Still, no excuse for a rescue making you feel bad for it if you have a particular type of animal in mind.

However what I have found over and over again even from family looking for pets, that they have a very particular critter in mind, they go and see the animals up for adoption and end up coming away with the total opposite because it's whichever animal they 'click' with.

It's a good idea to choose a public friendly rescue, and be allowed to see the animals.

People have surrendered animals to me some for genuine reasons some for really stupid reasons but I don't judge them or make any comments all I want is as much information about the animal and the truth about their temprement etc so I can choose housing, and a home that will suit them best.

Forget dogs and cats..guinea pigs make better pets anyways

bladetrinity

You said you rang for a pup because you didn't have the space for a dog..but pups grow into dogs ..what then lol

no sorry guinea pig i meant i had no room when we were renting but now that we have a house and yes we have the room for a dog we just wanted a puppy we did not want a dog to die not too long after we got it . the point here is the lady we dealt with was rude and condescending it wasnt nice we were waiting by the phone for weeks i love animals i now have a mongrel and she is my baby,,aaaaahhhhh

SuzyS1972

Thats mad that you'd think a dog other than a puppy would DIE soon after you got it :eek:
My 3 were all adults ( approx 1-1.5 years old ) when I adopted them and they are all fit and healthy

I work in re-homing pets and it can be frustrating when people are only set on pups when you know that a slightly older dog would suit the home better. Especially if people are out at work all day.
That said there is no need for anyone to have been rude to you - all it takes is to politely explain the rescues policy or to suggest an alternative.

Sigma Force

Oh sorry, I get you know Blade.

Why doesn't everyone stick to guinea pigs, as I keep saying they are so much easier and cute as a big fat puppy

bladetrinity

no probs guinea pig ,btw we used to have guinea pigs as kids two hutches one for the boys one for the girls ,but unfortunately my older sisters used to think it unfair so they used to let them all in together like one big happy family ,it soon became a big happy family...i can see how you could be a very busy...er guiney. i have the highest respect for any one who deals with pets and devotes their time to this .that particular woman unfortunately was an animal person not a people person maybe people skills are needed :cool:

ClareBear

Maybe these people aren't people people, they're animal people.

If I ever end up working for any of them (which I hope I might after college for a while at least) I'll be polite to you Shewhomustbe...

bladetrinity

good luck with that clarebear ....not easy , respect to all :cool:

gillianbird

Nice to see that things are not changing and that if one person has one bad experience with a group they tar everyone with the same type of name with bad feelings.

By the way, your problem was with the ISPCA so why blame the DSPCA? Totally seperate groups!

Gillian

Dave!

I just went to the DSPCA on Mount Venus road in Dublin, and I have to say, I kinda noticed this too! My uncle pointed out that it seems to be a playground for posh people, and he was spot on. There were one or two people at reception that seemed to know a thing or two, and were friendly, but outside when we were looking at the animals, there was 3 females about 17-19 and they weren't any help when we asked them questions. They didn't know where the dogs were, and when we asked where a specific one was, one said it was gone, only to later point out that it was actually not gone, it was just playing outside for a while. hmmm. The 3 then pretty much ran away in a group in case we had any follow-up questions. It's a bit of a shame really, because the facilities were of very high standard! It used to be a dinky place, but now it's perfectly tarmacked, with all new holdings, etc., and beautiful spaces for the animals to play in. Still, not everyone's like that.

gillianbird

.....was 3 females about 17-19 and they weren't any help when we asked them questions.

They would have been young volunteers who are told not to answer questions to public about animals. We have staff and special volunteers to answer all the questions but they were probably busy rehoming an animal or talking to other people.

If you think we leave the place in the hands of giggly kids you must be kidding!

Gillian

Dave!

lol, okey doke, my bad.

doctor evil

gillianbird wrote:

They would have been young volunteers who are told not to answer questions to public about animals. We have staff and special volunteers to answer all the questions but they were probably busy rehoming an animal or talking to other people.

If you think we leave the place in the hands of giggly kids you must be kidding!

Gillian

Why are they not allowed to speak, doesn`t sound like very good PR. Are they allowed to answer anything? such as age/breed/please wait a moment while I get someone......

Shewhomustbe...

gillianbird wrote:

Nice to see that things are not changing and that if one person has one bad experience with a group they tar everyone with the same type of name with bad feelings.

By the way, your problem was with the ISPCA so why blame the DSPCA? Totally seperate groups!

Gillian

Nice to see that people still don't bother reading the full thread before replying with assumptions made on the title.

If you had bothered to read the thread you would have seen that this was NOT my first time dealing with either the ISPCA or DSPCA.

Maybe, just maybe, your time would be better spend organising training classes for both the full time staff and the "giggly kids" in how to communicate with members of the public.

aare

Well, GillianBird refers to the DSPCA as "we", which she implies means she is staff at the DSPCA, and THEN goes on to say:

If you think we leave the place in the hands of giggly kids you must be kidding!

Frankly, IF a member of DSPCA staff were prepared to be that rude and unappreciative about young volunteers on a public board I would wonder if she were the best person to evaluate whether the DSPCA as a whole were rude to anybody else.

Irish-Lass

Gillian does work for the DSPCA she is the Educational Officer for them

gillianbird

Yes I am staff, I am the Education Officer and my jobs include dealing with all aspects of animal welfare education, dealing with the media and dealing with volunteers.

We are not rude to or about our junior volunteers. After many years of dealing with the public we find that they like to take as RED anything said to them and they usually do not ask more information so in answer to this we ask our volunteers (all of them) to pass queries to relevant staff members. Only when they have been with us a while are they able to answer questions about the animals. You see, we take on huge numbers of work experience and volunteers and don't want the wrong information to be given to potential new owners as it may ruin the chances an animal has of getting a home or may piss off peopel who write to boards like this! I'm sorry to have sounded so curt on teh previous posting but I get so sick of being criticised for everything good and right that we try to do.

If you come to the centre to rehome a dog you will be first asked to fill in a questionnaire in reception. This is then brought to the kennels and any suitable dogs are discussed with the kennel staff (all in uniform). This staff member then interviews you and if the animal is a good match we arrange for a home check to be done by one of our inspectors. Someone has to be responsible if the animal goes to a bad home and that should not be put upon volunteers. All the dog walking and socialisation (fun bits) is done by the volunteers while the day to day running and rehoming is done by staff. We try to get new and inexperienced volunteers to talk nicely to the public expalining that they are not in a position to answer their questions and to point out who would when asked about animals but it can be difficult.

Frankly, IF a member of DSPCA staff were prepared to be that rude and unappreciative about young volunteers on a public board I would wonder if she were the best person to evaluate whether the DSPCA as a whole were rude to anybody else.

Aare, that is a bit unfair. Do you work in a rehoming centre? Do you know how busy it can get? Do you know how many unsuitable volunteers have to be vetted before we come up with the great ones we get? If you do then you will understand the pressures. I am not unappreciative of any of our volunteers, in fact I go out of my way to try to enrol new ones, and try as much as I can to make sure they are happy with the work they are doing. I also organise all the school kids work experience and community work and have done for the past 5 years. Volunteers are the life blood of our society and the kids are the adults of the future.... I know we have had some rude people, both staff and volunteers in the past and people sometimes have bad days but I think you have to give a little lee way when you consider the types of cruelty cases, neglect not to mention dam stupidity (often seen in people wanting to rehome animals-another tropic for discussion I think) that is seen every day in an organisation like the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Shewhomustbe...

When I was living in Dublin I was doing rep work for a pet food company and would sometimes have to take returns from stores, which could be a number of cases. As I didn't have any pets I would bring these to the DSPCA in Rathfarnham, don't think I ever got a thank you.

I'm sorry you didn't get the thanks you deserved for your generousity. Was it the old shelter on Stocking Lane you were at? We try to thank everyone who donates stuff either in letter or in person, I'm sorry you were overlooked, but please don't let this spoil your opinion of us. Every group need help, that is why we are Charities and it is up to each individual who they want to donate to, just please take issues up with the charities in question before bitching about them on public boards and possibly ruining their chances of getting much needed donations towards the valuable work they do!

Sorry to have annoyed people but I get very sick of bad mouthing and sh** spreading when it need not be done! Complain to the boss, don’t take it out on the animals!!

Gillian

aare

Aare, that is a bit unfair. Do you work in a rehoming centre? Do you know how busy it can get? Do you know how many unsuitable volunteers have to be vetted before we come up with the great ones we get? If you do then you will understand the pressures. I am not unappreciative of any of our volunteers

GillianBird, that really doesn't resolve the question of why you would refer to your own young volunteers, in a three sentence post, that you must have had ample time to consider, thus, now does it?

If you think we leave the place in the hands of giggly kids you must be kidding!

I think it might be nicer if you simply apologised for making such a derogatory statement and determined within yourself not to do such a thing again, rather than made excuses.

If the DSPCA rehoming center is currently too busy rehoming animals for the staff to show basic respect and courtesy to one another in public, apart from going some way towards proving the point of this thread about rudeness to members of the public, it then begs another question:

Why is the DSPCA still a "high kill shelter" for dogs, with a near blanket extermination policy towards feral and stray cats?

(Edited to add one comma that annoyed me by it's absence)

aare

Irish-Lass wrote:

Gillian does work for the DSPCA she is the Educational Officer for them

Yes, I checked, but I do think it would have been a better idea for her to explain that in the first place, particularly from her own point of view, but that's just an opinion, not a big deal.

Lilly81

don't let this thread get nasty, the ispca and dspca do great work.

out of interest gillian, do you have many full time staff? what training did you do? what kind of pay is full time work or is it all voluntary? thanks.

by the way i think you're doing a great job and keep it up.

aare

Lilly81 wrote:

don't let this thread get nasty, the ispca and dspca do great work.
by the way i think you're doing a great job and keep it up.

Leaving the DSPCA alone for a minute, I am not sure that the 7,574 dogs destroyed by the ISPCA in the pounds they ran in 2003 alone (a year in which 17,695 dogs were destroyed in pounds nationwide) would agree with that sentiment.

The only reason I do not bang on and on about the ISPCA and DSPCA is because I cannot see anything that could stand in their place, animal rescue/welfare in Ireland is several different kinds of mess, and the ones who pay the price of that are ultimately the innocent animals.

The biggest obstacle to any kind of real, benign solution is public apathy, which is only exacerbated by rude and abusive behavior (over which the DSPCA and ISPCA certainly do NOT have a monopoly) from animal rescue and welfare organisations (the topic of this thread) and brushing the harsher facts under the carpet.

doctor evil

Not every single animal can be saved (I`m not just talking about those that are sick/injured/old). I would prefer animals to be put down rather than live in a shelter that does not have enough funds to correctly care for the animals due to the sheer number.

Sigma Force

If the public neuterd and spayed their pets, kept them secure and stopped over breeding them for money without checking out their new homes etc then there wouldn't be so many animals in rescue or in pounds.

There is no excuse for rudeness but by god is it tempting sometimes when you see the kind of cruelty that goes on, when there are days and days of nothing but negativity the only light at the end of the tunnel is when you see an animal rehomed to a decent home.
If I was working in dog or cat rescue within the space of a few months I would of given up on the human race.

It's up to the public to take responsibility for their animals not a rescues.
Rescues are there to provide help to animals that most need it but cannot save them all.

Animal welfare laws need to be changed, public need to take responsibility for their pets, rescues and the public need to work together and help each other out if anything is going to change.
If someone has a problem with an individual rescue they should contact that rescue and speak face to face with them.

Instead of giving out, mabey there is something people can do to help, as someone said to me when I first got into this malarky, if you think you can do a better job then go right ahead off you go and do the work we do. Harsh words I thought at the time but now I realise how true they were.

Not saying all rescue organisations are perfect but I have come across more good than bad big time.

Thousands of dogs are destroyed in the pounds each year, the problem seems to be getting worse, not the fault of rescues it's the fault of the public not taking care of their animals. Many rescues have a no kill policy but you have to consider the quality of an animals life also, would it be better for a dog to life in cramped conditions with little contact because of overcrowding or is it better to try and save as many as you can but have a set number on how many animals you can take in at one time.
There's only so much money to go around and only so much help foster wise etc. not all animals can be saved.

Shewhomustbe...

gillianbird, I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
I also appreciate the stress of seeing cruelty cases and how this would affect the staff, however it does not excuse bad manners. (I am curious as to whether you offer or insist that staff/volunteers have counselling to cope with this)

How long do you think a business would last if most of the customers were greeted by rudeness and indifference. All my jobs have involved dealing with the public so I know exactly what it's like to have to smile through gritted teeth but I would never be rude because just like they don't know what my days been like I don't what has happened during theirs, and if you can't do that you shouldn't have a job that has you dealing with people.

Of course you don't want people misinformed and new owners need to be vetted but volunteers knowing and giving a simple explanation of this would clear up anyone else experiencing what DaveMcG did.

This thread arose from me ringing for information about getting a mother and kittens spayed/neutered and being greeted with indifference.
I saw a problem and decided instead of ignoring it I would be responsible instead, I now have three additional mouths to feed because of it and cannot afford the vet fees of having them all fixed. The person made me feel as if I was a scrounger because I was looking for help. I am not looking forward to having to go through that again and have been putting off going for the vouchers because of it.

I wholeheartedly agree ALL rescues are fighting a difficult battle and absolutely agree with Guineapigrescue that the law needs to be changed, and would do what I can to try and make that happen.

aare

Guineapigrescue wrote:

Animal welfare laws need to be changed, public need to take responsibility for their pets, rescues and the public need to work together and help each other out if anything is going to change.

The Law also needs to be changed to regulate rescues and make them accountable, to the Dept of Environment (that is nice enough to give a lot of them money every New Year) NOT any SPCA.

Because at this moment in time, too many rescues consider themselves to be a self appointed law unto themselves.

Guineapigrescue wrote:

If someone has a problem with an individual rescue they should contact that rescue and speak face to face with them.

And in real terms, just exactly how far is THAT going to get you?

Any direct challenge to the individuals concerned gets you no further than the nearest coverup. Nothing changes.

Guineapigrescue wrote:

Thousands of dogs are destroyed in the pounds each year, the problem seems to be getting worse, not the fault of rescues it's the fault of the public not taking care of their animals.

Don't you think that the informal policy of making rescue dogs as expensive and inaccessible as possible (as they are in some parts of the US with "reputable" rescues demanding $350 and more per dog) and discouraging people from approaching the pounds directly to adopt unwanted dogs exacerbates the problem?

Do you think being so rude, dysfunctional, abusive and, in a few cases, ruthlessly avaricious, to the good people who do genuinely love animals that those good people tend to feel further contact with animal rescuers will make them give up on the human race, helps solve the problem at all?

peasant

This infighting is ridiculous ...

GPR is perfectly right:

Animal welfare laws need to be changed, public need to take responsibility for their pets, rescues and the public need to work together and help each other out if anything is going to change.

To fundamentally change a whole society's attitude towards animals, to treat animals with the respect and care that they deserve, takes a huge, concentrated effort by all involved.

But people are people it seems ...caught within their own limited little horizons, much happier at pointing fingers than doing something ...or worse, pointing the finger at those who are doing something ...or worst, pointing the finger at others that are also doing something, but differently.

This to me shows an underlying problem of our society ...the lack of respect for each other.

And if we can't even respect our own kind ...how does anyone seriously expect "mere animals" to be treated with the respect that they deserve?


I know, this all sounds very "moral" and "wouldn't it be nice-theoretical" and I can hear everybody mumbling "yeah, right, peasant ...get real" but as long as people can't even change their own attitude and general outlook on life, I have very little hope for "the law" or "society" or "we/us" to "take care" of things any time soon ...

my 0.02 Euro

aare

peasant wrote:

But people are people it seems ...caught within their own limited little horizons, much happier at pointing fingers than doing something ...or worse, pointing the finger at those who are doing something ...or worst, pointing the finger at others that are also doing something, but differently.

Actually Peasant, the above would be a fairly accurate summary of the most common attitudes and behaviors of "Animal Rescuers" in Ireland in my experience, and I am afraid I could not find a way to respect THAT at gunpoint, and I do not think I should try to.

But you are, of course, entitled to hold your own opinion.

FranknFurter

I have a *lot* of animal welfare experience, and from what I have seen over the years, a disturbingly large amount of people who run these organisations are not the most endearing of people when it comes to interacting with human beings.

There are a few people out there, who know what these people and places are like because they put in the effort to get involved.
A *lot* of these people are so dumbfounded by these particular orgs that they run screaming, (usually with a few rescuees under each arm) once they realise whats really going on. (Yes, it can be THAT disturbing!)

There are *definitely* some of these places that do much more harm than good, I can name 3 in the greater dublin area, and its outskirts, straight off the top of my head, that take on much more than they can cope with, keep the dogs in horrible conditions so they can bitch about "not having enough funding"..... problem is, often, they get more funding, and funnilly enough, change nothing.

There are a few Genuine people however, (and at least 4 I know of here on boards) that *do* care, and *know* their limitations.
These are the people most qualified on this subject, (altho it seems a cpl of them disagree somwhat in this thread lol )

b

aare

That is all true, along with a degree of infighting and "politicking" BETWEEN the rescuers that would make Machiavelli blush...

Trouble is that there is always someone jumping up and down saying that if everybody just pretended none of this was happening and supported each other blindly in public, while dictating (often completely unrealistically, and with no subtantive premise) how the rest of the world should treat their animals and, by extension, live their lives, it would solve the problem, when all that achieves is to hide the problems where they can thrive.

People do not "say nasty things" about Animal Welfare in this country to score points, they say them to be honest, because of the "nasty things" that are happening.

In my opinion and experience, Animal Rescue in Ireland needs to clean house badly. But the Rescuers who do have the sincerity and integrity to do that are too busy actually rescuing dogs to do it (and have names you definately DO NOT regularly hear in the Press). So it seems to me that the only answer that will work will be legislation for regulation and accountability. (several rescues have charitable tax status without any real regulation at all)

...and I must not be the only one who sees this, because currently both the UK and the US (at Federal level) are in the process of creating animal welfare legislation that does, in addition to it's other aspects, regulate rescues.

You can't save every dog, but believe me, all it would take is a little rationalisation and regulation amongst the Rescuers themselves to save a LOT more for the same money.

gillianbird

Aare said

I think it might be nicer if you simply apologised for making such a derogatory statement and determined within yourself not to do such a thing again, rather than made excuses.

Fine - I am sorry that this comment offended you and the girls in question and I will be careful not to talk in such derogatory terms again.

I am truly sorry if the comment offended you, but it was meant to imply that we take it all seriously and would not leave important things in the hands of young volunteers as some other groups have done in the past. The girls in question (I think I know which ones) admitted themselves that they were giggly especially if approached by a human male who might have been considered to be "Cute"!

Aare also said

Why is the DSPCA still a "high kill shelter" for dogs, with a near blanket extermination policy towards feral and stray cats?

???? We deal with sick, injured and cruelty case dogs and only put to sleep those deemed too sick or injured to be kept alive on humane grounds! We are not a dog pound and take in what we have space to rehome (and more at times). Every dog is vaccinated, wormed, defleaed, neutered and microchipped before leaving and follow-up home checks are done. I would love to say no dogs are "killed" but sometimes it is more humane. If you can tell me how it is humane to keep a dog alive that has been sliced almost in two by the Luas then our vets and ethics committee would love to hear it!

Cats - we neuter as many of the healthy ones as we can and release them back to where there are carers; we offer a subsidised neutering to anyone who wants to bring a feral to us Monday to Thursdays; we collect sick and injured cats - repair, rehome where possible or put to sleep if not; we neuter every animal (dogs and cats) over 6 months and have compulsory neutering at the centre for those taking ones under 6 months all included in rehoming fees. We do not believe in keeping a feral cat in a cage for the rest of its life and will not release them to areas where there is no carer or where the area is unsafe.

I'm not going to spend the next month answering questions on this discussion board or in justifying what it is claimed the Dublin SPCA do or do not do, but if people want to ring me or drop up for a chat no problem. I’m in the office most days when not giving talks in schools or libraries. If I’m not there leave name and number and I'll get back to you.

Its nice to see so many caring people, its a pity some of you would not consider coming on board with the Dublin SPCA by coming on the main Committee!

Gillian

aare

Gillian,

You have placed me in a very difficult position, because the hard evidence to which I have had access supports my statement and not yours.

So much so that I was genuinely under the impression that it was all out in the open now, at least for anyone who cared to look or ask, otherwise I would not have referred to it at all. I certainly will not be making further reference to it.

CookieCat

Nor does Gillian statement reflect my finding either. And I thought it was DSPCA policy not to reply to these matters on public boards or is that only selective boards.Jimmy certainly tried to shut up I.A when in was functioning. when "comments" were made they he deemed unfair/unnecessary and he gave no explanation.

gillianbird

I have always had a policy of being direct and honest. I know there are rumours floating around that we kill lots of dogs and we have tried over and over again to talk to the main person spreading these lies but to no avail. I know some of this comes from when we were in Grand Canal Quay and were the only dog pound in Dublin. Aare, I will pm you so we can hopefully have a chat about this and finally sort this out once and for all at least with those on this discussion topic.

CookieCat - Jimmy does not like us getting involved in discussions because they annoy him but I do it when I feel the need myself, maybe I'll let people slate and abuse us in future!

Gillian

CookieCat

Perhaps as the education officer you can dispel the myths and hearsay. I think Dublin would be a poorer place without the likes of the DSPCA and it would be nice once and for all to dispel all the myths and inaccuracies floating around.

1. If a healthy domestic cat is handed in to the DSPCA, will it or won't it be PTS.
2.The DSPCA ask the public to contact pest control companies regarding trapping feral cats.

I also did not think the comments that Jimmy found offensive were unreasonable on a public board if memory serves me right. It was a particular post regarding the frustration of the general public not being able to get help from the DSPCA at a weekend and nowhere for animals to be seen/taken.
Also I think it was also asked if a cat i think was taken to the DSPCA would there be no guarantee that it would not be PTS. And if that can be interpretated as a public slating (As it is rescue groups and concerned members of the public that accessed the I.A board, so all I am asking is it not time to put the record straight once and for all.In a nice and polite way

aare

I am sorry Gillian, but I actually know far less about the functioning of the DSPCA before they left Grand Canal Quay than now (though it would be my impression that those old premises had very little to do with cats?)...that was, after all, a very long time ago...so long that I am surprised anybody would refer to it...it's history...

FYI I do not listen to "rumours", about anybody, anywhere...just hard facts.

I really do not think that it is in either my best interests or Gillian's to continue to discuss this here which, unlike IA, (except for a few boards, a "closed shop" accessible to members only) is a public board.

I would never have raised these matters at all if I did not have reason to believe that they had already been made public by the DSPCA themselves. It would appear that I was mistaken in that belief, if so, it were a sincere mistake that I regret.

Lilly81

we need to take on the attitude of the uk. their rescue and animal shelters are far superior to ours. i know it's all down to funding, sadly i don't see it changing anytime soon because of that

Arcadian

Now the RSPCA really are a law unto themselves !

Lilly81

i honestly never knew it was this bad....

peasant

First: I personally am not a rescue, I'm not involved with any rescue and I don't know anybody personally who is involved in any rescue ...I would therefore consider myself neutral on this issue.

Second: On and for the behalf of all the people who may read this and, like me, haven't got the first idea of what this is all about and who is talking to whom and from which background ...I would like to state the following:

Rescue organisations (good or bad as they may or may not be) are not the real issue. Some may be problematic, but that is a mere side issue.

ALL rescue organisations involved with domestic pets (regardless of the fact how well they are doing their job) are only scraping away at the tip of the iceberg. Desperately trying to save animals from being killed.

But the real problem ...the iceberg ...is that there are waaaay too many animals in the first place. They are being churned out by puppy mills and backyard breeders, bred to be used and then discarded ...treated as goods rather than beings. By "producers" and "consumers" alike.
Nobody is held responsible for the wellbeing of animals. There is insufficient legislation, business interests, un- to illinformed buyers/owners, a general lack of care/ responsibility / interest / knowledge ...
all conspiring to the dreadful conditions that we see today.

Rescues going for each others' throats doesn't help the iceberg one bit ...

I would like to appeal to all so far uninvolved readers (if there are any) to read up on the dreadful conditions for animals in this country, to get involved in their own environement, to talk to neighbours, to intervene when they see things going wrong and to lobby their local politicians for animal rights legislation.

Thank you

gillianbird

This discussion could go on forever, I would like to repeat something that has been said so many times before the DSPCA does not have a kill policy, and never did have a kill policy, the Dublin S.P.C.A. Dogs & Cats home is an animal sanctuary , and an animal sanctuary in the meaning of the word sanctuary, should you have any queries on that I suggest you call up and pay us a visit.

Gillian

old boy

any one got a rotti preferably neutered looking for a home please pm me