Another Rspca Cock Up!

[Jed]

And Mita, once again, Mark Townend has proved that he is full of wind. He can't even manage his OWN organisation.

And, Jed, once again, I find Mark Townend to be a fair-minded bloke. I'd expect he'd make a thorough investigation of this case.

As I said....I'd like to see the vet's report on the genesis of the horse's condition, treatment measures & reasons for PTS.

Mita, my experience was that what he says, and what he does are totally different. King of spin. Always happy to help dogs misidentified as pitbulls, blah blah, so sad, council wouldn't be stopped --- except nothing was done, or council was agreed with.

Just a straw man.

I too would very much like to see a POST MORTEM, not a report. A report wouldn't cut it with me - nor with anyone else. And the PM done by a totally independent vet. Someone who does not rely on RSPCA business or RSPCA referrals. In fact, a vet not from Townsville.

Too late now, of course.

Edited April 26, 2010 by Jed

[Are You Serious Jo]

Jebus As I was reading the story I had a feeling she would die while in their care, so many seem to do so. Mark Townsend doesn't seem to be very fair minded or competent, this happened after he was aware of the story. There was no good reason this mare was removed and held for three weeks, she could have been examined and left on the property. What sort of organisation are they that they don't know anything about the animals they are supposed to be responsible for. All horse people know colic can be caused by stress and to stress a horse who is susceptible is cruel and disgusting.

[mita]

And Mita, once again, Mark Townend has proved that he is full of wind. He can't even manage his OWN organisation.

And, Jed, once again, I find Mark Townend to be a fair-minded bloke. I'd expect he'd make a thorough investigation of this case.

As I said....I'd like to see the vet's report on the genesis of the horse's condition, treatment measures & reasons for PTS.

Mita, my experience was that what he says, and what he does are totally different. King of spin. Always happy to help dogs misidentified as pitbulls, blah blah, so sad, council wouldn't be stopped --- except nothing was done, or council was agreed with.

Just a straw man.

I too would very much like to see a POST MORTEM, not a report. A report wouldn't cut it with me - nor with anyone else. And the PM done by a totally independent vet. Someone who does not rely on RSPCA business or RSPCA referrals. In fact, a vet not from Townsville.

Yes, I'd like to see the vet report. We'll have to differ on our experiences & conclusions in dealing with Mark Townend.

Edited April 26, 2010 by mita

[Crisovar]

Another RSPCA death in custody, another innocent victim.

For all Creatures Great and Small what utter bullshit.

[Jed]

A report is not a post mortem. I edited my post, btw, as it is now too late for a pm. The poor horse is probably under 100 other animals they've knocked off since anyhow.

Colic is basically "a pain in the gut" - the causes of colic are many and varied, and the outcome can range from resolution within hours without any treatment, or death.

Depends on why there is "a pain in the gut".

Colic is one of the reasons most experienced horse people warn against buying windsuckers. They swallow air, which produces exactly the same results as colic in babies.

Usually buscopan and a secondary pain killer, to reduce stress and to relax the gut, as well as a bit of walking to dissipate the air produces a cure. Most horses who do this are relieved by walking alone. It's hardly life threatening. And it would just be too coincidental if the horse developed a gut blockage, or some other life endangering problem under the heading of "colic"

[centitout]

Give the idiots a rope and hopefully they will hang themselves with it ANY person with any horse sense at all,knows stress is a contributing factor with colic,changes of feed,even water can trigger it-hence why most people that compete with horses prone to colic even take their own water/feed.Absolute dickheads, there is enough grounds for a current affair story to start getting put together,maybe someone could send links to the newspapers about all the bungled cases.a sort of hand delivered story.

And i'm not quite sure,but i thought i read somewhere a while ago,that windsucking collars were deemed "cruel"(guess who???),you have to use the new "humane" ones?????? I have seen hundreds of windsuckers on the studs over the years,riding horses etc with their so called 'cruel" collars ,and they didnt look like they were suffering to me,they werent windsucking as bad as they would have otherwise.And some horses will windsuck even if they have never been stabled(for those that will say they do it because they are locked in stables all day,and not running through green meadows)

Poor foster carer,i really hope the backlash from this is huge and more people start to question the motives of the business that is the rspca-they are a disgrace.

[WoofnHoof]

Depends on whether the horse was colicing at the time and was moved to the shelter to be close to the vets. After 7 months of care the mare's condition still wasn't that crash hot so it seems there may have been an underlying issue causing the colic which may not have been addressed.

Quick question:

If a foster carer for a doggy rescue rehabbed a dog with their own funds (regardless of whether clearance to spend that money was given by the rescue) would they be allowed to keep it with no adoption fee?

[casowner]

I was under the impression that foster carers were made aware that if they foster an animal and then decide to adopt then they were still required to pay the adoption fee but I also believed (clearly misguidely) that expenses were covered. When I fostered my little dogs mum and her 3 puppies for 14 weeks I still had to pay full price for her and I worked for the organisation (not RSPCA). Actually come to think about it, all expenses were incurred by me.

What a horrible outcome for the mare, I just don't understand why they would take an apparently healthy horse off site for observation for colic if she wasn't shown any signs at the time. There has to be more to the story because if not it is a disgrace.

[mita]

Depends on whether the horse was colicing at the time and was moved to the shelter to be close to the vets. After 7 months of care the mare's condition still wasn't that crash hot so it seems there may have been an underlying issue causing the colic which may not have been addressed.

Yes, as I said previously, I'd like to know about the genesis of the condition, in this case.

Edited April 26, 2010 by mita

[ILK]

The fact that they removed the horse for examination is dodgy in itself.

Even if the RSPCA had good intentions the death of this horse is completely RSPCA fault. That poor woman - how distressing for her and that poor horse what a terrible way to end a sad life.

[HollyMilo]

Jesus Christ Almighty

[mantis]

This reminds me about the two pitbulls seized by BCC some years ago. They were in the Fairfield"shelter". The owner, who said they were not pitbulls, went public, with photos of the two dogs, friendly as you like with the baby and each other, on the front page of the paper.

I have no idea whether they were pitbulls or not. May have been, may not have been BCC decided they were, owner said they weren't.

Whatever they were, they were trustworthy with the family's kids, and got on very well with each other. Neither had been in any trouble for aggressive behavior. They were mother and son.

A short time after the article in the paper, one of the dogs scaled a sheer brick wall about 8 - 9 ft high, squashed itself into the tiny gap between the top of the wall and the roof, to the next kennel, where it's friend was, and killed it.

About as believable as this story, aRSePCA.

Gawd, I remember that ridiculous story & unfortunately APBT haters keep using that as proof, that they are all deranged dogs & nothing will stop them from killing.

[cookierhys]

Disgusting, just disgusting.

There are no words for that.

My deepest sympathies go out to the family who looked after her and were so casually dismissed and led-on, to the point of believing the horse was doing fine. I cant believe they weren't informed that Brandy was going to be put down, and that they didnt let them take her back, even after they had the money. The RSPCA in Townsville are **sholes, and obviously care more about themselves than the animals, which is not how a place like the RSPCA should be ran. It makes me so angry, just disgusting.

RIP Beautiful Brandy, now ur running free and happy with no more colic and stress. RIP pretty girl

[tarope]

Mita,

How can you and some others support this vile organization when things like this happen every day and are just covered up. Do you think the R$PCA is going to show anyone proof of what really happened, no bloody way as all the evidence is long gone which doesn't surprise anyone. :D

RIP Brandy, Clifford and all the animals who fall into the hands of the R$PCA

Maybe you might want to take a look at this link, you may change your mind about them.

http://www.careaware.info/index.html

[Robbi]

RIP poor Brandy

At the end of the day regardless of how the r$pca bungled the care of Brandy and did so in an ultimately tragic way.

What sort of callous, hard hearted bastard disposes of a dead horse at a dump for her poor carer to find. There is no excuse for the shameful way Brandys body was treated almost out of spite it looks

[Maxiewolf]

Radical Society of Pr**ks, C***ts & A****les. The miniscule amount of good this organisation does is once again ripped up burnt and stepped on. If I where that woman I would be suing them for the heartache they caused. And Im pretty sure that impropper disposal of a large animal is also an offense maybe they should answer for that too. Just Tragic. RIP Brandy

[Jed]

name='WoofnHoof' date='26th Apr 2010 - 07:27 PM' post='4489986']

Depends on whether the horse was colicing at the time and was moved to the shelter to be close to the vets. After 7 months of care the mare's condition still wasn't that crash hot so it seems there may have been an underlying issue causing the colic which may not have been addressed.

According to the RSPCA spokesperson, the horse was fine when it was moved. The vet confirmed that.

This is a quote from the newspaper article. And it was well before the horse was euthed.

The 10-year-old horse was removed from its home by the RSPCA who told the horse's foster carer of seven months, Siobhan McCabe, they needed the animal for a pre-adoption vet check.

Ms McCabe nursed Brandy back to health after she was rescued from a Deeragun paddock in April last year, severely underweight and suffering from chronic windsucking and colic.

Brandy's carer came to the Townsville Bulletin earlier this month after the RSPCA allegedly threatened to take the animal unless she paid a $500 adoption fee within the week.

Yesterday, Brandy passed the RSPCA's vet-check with flying colours but is being kept in a paddock at the Townsville shelter for the next three weeks so staff can determine whether she is healthy enough for adoption.

The horse, in my experience, is in reasonable paddock condition. Considering that she was apparently very poor 7 months previous, which would have led to muscle wastage, and she was not being worked at the date of the photos, she is well covered, but totally lacking muscle tone, which may be seen from the lack of muscles on the top of the rump, gaskin and neck. Those muscles would not regenerate in a poor horse, despite feeding, without work. Additionally, it can be difficult to condition a windsucker, depending on the severity. According to the report, it was quite severe.

Coat is in good condition, and from that, I would doubt that colic from red worms would be a problem. I would also presume that with intermittant colic, veterinary attention would have been sought, and a diagnosis arrived at. And any worm burden would have been treated.

That horse could be brought into show condition with proper feed and work within 8 weeks - including it being a windsucker.

Quick question:

If a foster carer for a doggy rescue rehabbed a dog with their own funds (regardless of whether clearance to spend that money was given by the rescue) would they be allowed to keep it with no adoption fee?

Probably not. But doggy rehab costs a lot less than horse rehab. And I don't see the RSPCA admitting they donated feed or gave money for rehabilitation, so we have to accept that the fosterer paid $5000 to rehabilitate the horse.

Realistically, how much market would there be for a 10 year old mare with no special attributes, which may not have been suitable for riding?

The only market, as far as I can tell, would be the meatworks.

Realistically, if the RSPCA operated according to its well advertised ethos, they would have given her the horse to prevent it going to the meatworks.

And the paper tried to pay the RSPCA $500 anyhow.

Edited April 26, 2010 by Jed

[WoofnHoof]

That's how a lot of horse's bodies are disposed of Robbi unless someone is willing and able to either bury it in a way that complies with council regs (on a property well away from residences and with due consideration for water table levels etc) or pay for cremation that's the only other method of disposal that is legal for a large animal that has been euthed.

Say the horse did get colic again (which is likely since it was a recurring issue) and had to be put down or rack up more huge bills which the RSPCA would have been liable for since the adoption had not been finalised, who was going to pay for the transport of the body to the foster carer's property for burial? Who was going to pay for the backhoe to dig the hole? It's entirely likely the carer was told the horse was buried by someone in admin who just assumes that horses are buried like any other animal when in fact they often aren't.

I agree that the RSPCA handled it badly and shouldn't have taken the horse (although the leg injury in later photos suggests a further injury had been sustained which may have prompted the seizure - perhaps fencing was an issue???) and they should have contacted the carer when the colic recurred to see if she would be willing to go ahead with treatment, but given the recurring nature of the illness it's presumptuous to suggest the animal would have lived a long and happy life had it remained with the carer.

[Jed]

This reminds me about the two pitbulls seized by BCC some years ago. They were in the Fairfield"shelter". The owner, who said they were not pitbulls, went public, with photos of the two dogs, friendly as you like with the baby and each other, on the front page of the paper.

I have no idea whether they were pitbulls or not. May have been, may not have been BCC decided they were, owner said they weren't.

Whatever they were, they were trustworthy with the family's kids, and got on very well with each other. Neither had been in any trouble for aggressive behavior. They were mother and son.

A short time after the article in the paper, one of the dogs scaled a sheer brick wall about 8 - 9 ft high, squashed itself into the tiny gap between the top of the wall and the roof, to the next kennel, where it's friend was, and killed it.

About as believable as this story, aRSePCA.

Gawd, I remember that ridiculous story & unfortunately APBT haters keep using that as proof, that they are all deranged dogs & nothing will stop them from killing.

Huh, another old person with a good memory, The mother was alleged to have killed the son, wasn't she? Of course, she had his whole life to do it, from when he was whelped, but it was strange that she chose the time when she was incarcerated, and it was nearly impossible to reach him to do it, instead of just tearing his throat out when he was born, or at any time after that, when they were living together, totally unrestrained.

Do you remember how wide the gap between the wall and roof was? From memory, I think it was about 10cms? And she looked to be a good 30 - 40 kg dog.

The whole thing was rubbish. Impossible to accomplish - except for Spiderman.

Same as this current rot.

[mantis]

This reminds me about the two pitbulls seized by BCC some years ago. They were in the Fairfield"shelter". The owner, who said they were not pitbulls, went public, with photos of the two dogs, friendly as you like with the baby and each other, on the front page of the paper.

I have no idea whether they were pitbulls or not. May have been, may not have been BCC decided they were, owner said they weren't.

Whatever they were, they were trustworthy with the family's kids, and got on very well with each other. Neither had been in any trouble for aggressive behavior. They were mother and son.

A short time after the article in the paper, one of the dogs scaled a sheer brick wall about 8 - 9 ft high, squashed itself into the tiny gap between the top of the wall and the roof, to the next kennel, where it's friend was, and killed it.

About as believable as this story, aRSePCA.

Gawd, I remember that ridiculous story & unfortunately APBT haters keep using that as proof, that they are all deranged dogs & nothing will stop them from killing.

Huh, another old person with a good memory, The mother was alleged to have killed the son, wasn't she? Of course, she had his whole life to do it, from when he was whelped, but it was strange that she chose the time when she was incarcerated, and it was nearly impossible to reach him to do it, instead of just tearing his throat out when he was born, or at any time after that, when they were living together, totally unrestrained.

Do you remember how wide the gap between the wall and roof was? From memory, I think it was about 10cms? And she looked to be a good 30 - 40 kg dog.

The whole thing was rubbish. Impossible to accomplish - except for Spiderman.

Same as this current rot.

I can't remember the size of the gap, but any smart person would realise she couldn't have gpt through, especially after scaling & 9ft brick wall.

Just like the crap they came out with when they killed sweet Clifford, he went from being a lovely dog considering his earlier experiences, to turning vicious in a matter of days.

Edited April 26, 2010 by mantis