RSPCA in the news

[_PL_]

Ugh PETA 

They should never have been given Aus charity status. 

[asal]

 

 

I remember when it was disclosed the video of the cattle abuse that animals Australia used to shut down the entire cattle export industry that sent so many farmers bankrupt was found to have been doctored.... the actual ear-tags of the cattle, proving they were Australian were tags from cattle who had actually been slaughtered a week before at another entirely different Australian MLA accredited place, to date no one had been charged.....

 

 

No idea where this happened but I suspect happens FAR more often than those baying for the end of dairy's etc would have a clue.

 

Marti FarmsLike Page

Yesterday at 07:24 · 

I debated commenting about the Fair Oaks Farms abuse video... Unless you have been living under a rock, you've seen posts or heard people talking about the absolutely horrible animal abuse video that was released from Fair Oaks last week. You've noticed that Fairlife milk has been pulled from some of your favorite grocery stores. Some of you have even watched the video.

This whole situation has been a punch in the gut for dairy farmers everywhere. And I needed to say something. Farmers can't just sit quiet and take this.

Just like many farms (and businesses in every industry), we hire employees. We do our very best to ensure that we are hiring the best people we can - people who we can trust to care for our animals and our land with the utmost care. Like we would do if we could do it all ourselves. We hire people who have strong work ethic. People who are calm and patient around animals. People who are kind and will work well with others. We hire these people and we train them. We try to instill our values in them and give them all the support and tools they need to do a good job.

But at some point, we can't stand over their shoulders anymore. At some point, we have to trust that they are the right people for the job and that our animals and our land are safe in their care. At some point we have to believe that people are (mostly) good and we have to let them do their job.

But sometimes, people are not good. Sometimes people suck.

The people in the video from Fair Oaks REALLY suck.

And make no mistake - there are sucky people in every industry. Not just in dairy farming. There are bad people working in daycares. There are bad teachers working in our schools. There are bad people working in nursing homes. There are bad priests and bad doctors and bad mechanics.

But just like we wouldn't condemn an entire hospital for the actions of a bad doctor on staff, or an entire school for the bad decisions of a teacher, we can't condemn an entire dairy industry (or even an entire farm) for the actions of bad employees.

And this situation is even more crooked than that - the activists who are supposedly so concerned about the welfare of animals participated in this abuse, filmed it, and then sat on the video until (coincidentally - or not...) June Dairy Month. :/

What they don't tell you is that other employees at Fair Oaks Farms reported these employees for abuse MONTHS ago and the employees were terminated immediately - long before anyone knew anything about the video.

Animals should not be abused - ever - and I hope that those responsible for the mistreatment of the animals in the video are prosecuted.

But please do not think that that video is representative of dairy farms everywhere - or even of THAT dairy farm. This was a calculated attack by bad people.

There have been several well-written responses to this video online, and I've linked you up to a few of them. Please take a few minutes to read/watch them if you have any questions about the video or the fallout or what happens next.

In the meantime, our family stands with Fair Oaks and we will continue buying Fairlife milk and other dairy products and supporting dairy farmers everywhere. We will not let the activists win.

▪️Initial response from Fair Oaks Farms:
https://www.facebook.com/FOFarms/posts/10156818467445971…

▪️Post by Dairy Carrie about hiring employees and the need for trust:
https://www.facebook.com/…/a.52303688439…/2462210663809631/…

▪️Farm Babe's take on animal activists:
https://www.facebook.com/IowaFarmBabe/videos/466978137453252/

▪️Post from My Other More Exciting Self - highlighting the "other side" of the story:
http://www.myothermoreexcitingself.com/…/the-fair-oaks-fa…/…

▪️ Message from Dr. Mike McCloskey regarding changes being made at Fair Oaks Farms: 
https://www.facebook.com/…/UzpfSTI1MzQxOTMyMTM1NTQ1NDoyNDY…/

 

 

 

 

1 comment

 

 

Comments

 

M M C I read up on it when this first came out and it’s very sad for the farm. From what I read, the employees were actually undercover to find some abuse. When there wasn’t any after a long period of time, they made their own abuse to film.

[asal]

what a great summation of the problems

 

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe?fbclid=IwAR00wfTlZwlrrysVEBgs0IMUzCWwYLhjS36iZZhSZOeXXi_NyFwINWGBeQo

[asal]

interesting statistics

 

https://www.michaelwest.com.au/nsw-doggy-death-row/?fbclid=IwAR3OcrdEWp0bh2sTSp0NjaCsRNU7kiUh8Wspqv00lRMBsWkNoG-Tms7Ux8Q

[tdierikx]

I have to drive past the Yagoona shelter on my way to work, and they've been upgrading the facilities there for at least the past 2.5 years. The vet clinic was the first upgrade, and I am reliably informed that around $2 million was spent on it... apparently it's pretty swish and has all mod cons, including a state of the art eye clinic... I haven't been inside it, so can't confirm myself. The new kennel blocks look to be almost completely finished now also. All those upgrades apparently were using a $7.5 million grant from the NSW State Government a few years back.

 

I am at a loss to see what further upgrades are needing the $12 million apparently just recently spotted by the NSW State Government (June 20, 2019)... especially since the most recent upgrades don't seem to have made a single dent in the operating practices (read euthanaisia rates still disproportionately high) - funnily enough, no info on what the money is actually going to be spent on...

 

 

And back in January this year, the NSW State Government also extended the lease for the Yagoona Shelter land for another 20 years... at a rental rate of $481 a year - https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/lands/news/lease-extension-to-save-rspca-millions

 

T.

 

 

[asal]

Well considering our pollies only believe in taking good care of corporations, the bigger, the more tax free they are............ then it makes sense.

 

 

[tdierikx]

If one google maps the Yagoona site, and looks at satellite view, you can see all of the new kennel blocks and huge vet clinic/office building that have already been built - with almost half of the latest grant value. I'd love to know what else they can rebuild there that will cost $12 million.

 

One thing that you'll also see is that none of the exercise yards/areas have been upgraded, but still, those won't come anywhere near that figure to sort out.

 

Let's not forget that the extended lease agreement and cheap rental rate equates to a saving of around $7 million over those 20 years too.

 

T.

[teddybeans]

do they put dogs down if they can't rehome them by X number of days?

[tdierikx]

11 hours ago, teddybeans said:

do they put dogs down if they can't rehome them by X number of days?

RSPCA in Sydney (Yagoona) is a shelter... which means they can only take in surrenders from the general public. They are not a pound that has to hold animals for specific periods of time so owners can reclaim them. That means that they can euthanaise animals from any point after the owner surrenders them.

 

The figures for RSPCA NSW include the smaller branches in other areas of the state - some of which are pounds (and thus will have reclaim rates). I'd love to see the euthanaisia rates for the Yagoona shelter alone... I'm tipping that it will be much higher than the overall average for the rest of the shelters/pounds they run statewide, regardless of the vast sums of money the government has given them to upgrade it.

 

T.

[teddybeans]

57 minutes ago, tdierikx said:

RSPCA in Sydney (Yagoona) is a shelter... which means they can only take in surrenders from the general public. They are not a pound that has to hold animals for specific periods of time so owners can reclaim them. That means that they can euthanaise animals from any point after the owner surrenders them.

 

The figures for RSPCA NSW include the smaller branches in other areas of the state - some of which are pounds (and thus will have reclaim rates). I'd love to see the euthanaisia rates for the Yagoona shelter alone... I'm tipping that it will be much higher than the overall average for the rest of the shelters/pounds they run statewide, regardless of the vast sums of money the government has given them to upgrade it.

 

T.

So is the general public impression about them that they are operating as a business (ie bottom line profit) or that they mission is to save animals?

 

I wonder what determines which pet they put down.  Must be pretty traumatic making that decision.

[sandgrubber]

11 minutes ago, teddybeans said:

So is the general public impression about them that they are operating as a business (ie bottom line profit) or that they mission is to save animals?

 

I wonder what determines which pet they put down.  Must be pretty traumatic making that decision.

Like most institutions, the RSPCA is a mixed bag. Many/most of the volunteers are true animal lovers, some working under delusion.  Local branches vary and I'll bet some do far more good than harm.  In some places crazed animal rights people, or high paid executives create sickening problems. 

[teddybeans]

14 minutes ago, sandgrubber said:

Like most institutions, the RSPCA is a mixed bag. Many/most of the volunteers are true animal lovers, some working under delusion.  Local branches vary and I'll bet some do far more good than harm.  In some places crazed animal rights people, or high paid executives create sickening problems. 

Thanks for clarifying that.  I always thought RSPCA was a charity like organisation doing good for animals.  But you are right, our world now has all sorts of people.

[tdierikx]

22 hours ago, teddybeans said:

So is the general public impression about them that they are operating as a business (ie bottom line profit) or that they mission is to save animals?

 

I wonder what determines which pet they put down.  Must be pretty traumatic making that decision.

RSPCA Yagoona (Sydney) definitely appears to run as a profit making business... but has charity status, so lots of tax breaks and government grants are an added bonus.

 

As to how they determine which animals to put down - they use a "temperament test" that was developed to identify issues that may need to be worked on to make an animal rehomable, but not many actually get the time spent on those issues - most animals that "fail" the test are put down instead. I have a copy of the test, and can tell you that not many animals in a strange and stressful shelter environment surrounded by strangers will pass it...

 

22 hours ago, sandgrubber said:

Like most institutions, the RSPCA is a mixed bag. Many/most of the volunteers are true animal lovers, some working under delusion.  Local branches vary and I'll bet some do far more good than harm.  In some places crazed animal rights people, or high paid executives create sickening problems. 

Most of the smaller RSPCA branches have good people doing good work... RSPCA Yagoona is massive, but has a pretty poor track record IMHO when it comes to allocation of resources for the betterment of outcomes for the animals in their care.

 

T.

[sandgrubber]

Worth adding, in general, RSPCA and like organizations, worldwide, at the top levels, are inclined to spend far more money looking for donations and grinding political axes than helping animals.  I do support reducing cruelty.  I think many of the popular appeals focus on the wrong targets and push for measures not in the best interest of dogs. 

[teddybeans]

3 hours ago, tdierikx said:

I have a copy of the test, and can tell you that not many animals in a strange and stressful shelter environment surrounded by strangers will pass it...

 

This was what i was worried about.  Even a timid dog that doesn't have a mean bone in their body could end up on this list because of the sudden change in environment that they are not used to. 

[Lhok]

13 hours ago, tdierikx said:

RSPCA Yagoona (Sydney) definitely appears to run as a profit making business... but has charity status, so lots of tax breaks and government grants are an added bonus.

 

As to how they determine which animals to put down - they use a "temperament test" that was developed to identify issues that may need to be worked on to make an animal rehomable, but not many actually get the time spent on those issues - most animals that "fail" the test are put down instead. I have a copy of the test, and can tell you that not many animals in a strange and stressful shelter environment surrounded by strangers will pass it...

 

Most of the smaller RSPCA branches have good people doing good work... RSPCA Yagoona is massive, but has a pretty poor track record IMHO when it comes to allocation of resources for the betterment of outcomes for the animals in their care.

 

T.

Oh yes that temperament test, I once saw a young kelpie fail that test. They put him in a yard with a 1.5m fence. They then brought out another dog and started playing with it in the next door yard. The kelpie cleared it no sweat to go play with them and then was deemed a fence jumper and put down. Oh and on the same day I was told if I volunteered there I might hear dark humour about euth'ing animals and they sometimes did it because if they didn't find it funny they would break.

Due to other reasons which compounded the issue, that was the day I lost faith in the Rspca, I walked out of the local branch and never returned.

--Lhok

[asal]

ok it's american, but about time someone wrote a book about the  industry.

 

remarkable the parallels 

 

the writers were bitten and learned first hand and horrified by what they learned the hard way.

 

Lisa Layton has sampled the introduction to Laura and Rick Bell's second edition of their book Animal Owners Under Attack, now titled The Animal Rights War

https://www.amazon.com/…/1092300473/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_U_T9Q…:

"Did you know that animal owners are getting abused every day around the world? ~ Did you know that animals are being removed from the homes they share with their loving owners every day? ~ Did you know that many animals are treated horribly by the people that steal them from their owners and a high percentage are convenience killed? ~ Did you know that the animal rights movement is buying influence with state legislators to get increasingly restrictive laws passed? ~ Did you know that these laws create a system where private citizens are given police powers to arrest animal owners and steal their animals? ~ Did you also know that these private animal police are exempt from government required accountability and transparency requirements even though they are performing government work? ~ Do you know most animal owner arrests and animal thefts are conducted under false pretense? ~ Do you know that anonymous complaints from a nasty neighbor, ex-spouse or partner, business competitors, AR trolls, your vet, etc. can get you arrested and cost you all of your animals? ~ Do you know that cities, counties, townships, etc. that are not successful regarding enforcing illegal zoning laws will make up reasons to steal your animals and arrest you? ~ Do you know what the true agendas of popular animal rights organizations are? ~ Do you know the differences between self-funded rescues and sanctuaries and donation-funded rescues and sanctuaries? ~ Are you aware of what the consequences of a low tax and smaller government agenda are? ~ Do you know why false pretense animal owner arrests and animal thefts are not a Republican versus Democrat issue? ~ Do you know who wrote the United Nation's Agenda 21? ~ Do you know what the original purpose of Agenda 21 was? ~ Have you read actual stories from unjustly treated animal owners? ~ Are you tuned-in to how some animal owners are fueling the animal rights movement? ~ Would you believe it if we told you how the negative events conducted by animal protection organizations parallel what is going on with child protective services and elder care services? ~ You probably use social media yourself, but do you realize how these under-regulated media platforms contribute to bullying and the defamation of average Americans and their families? ~ As you read our book you will get the answers to all of these questions and a whole lot more. Six years ago we were unjustly attacked by people posing as friends. People that we had helped over and over again for several months. At the time, we operated a Sanctuary and Hospice for horses. We had horses that were ill that we and our vets were treating. The horses eventually got better, but not until after the people we were helping used their poor condition to rev-up a social media attack on us, which triggered complaints against us by complete strangers. Their attack used staged videos and altered photos, but that did not matter to social media mobs who are addicted to staged reality show drama. At the time, we were naive to the negative affects of social media, but we soon learned. Since that time we have educated ourselves on issues facing animal owners every day. We were lucky, if you can call what happened to us being lucky. We were criminally investigated for 5 1/2 months. We were completely exonerated and never were charged with a crime and never had animals taken. The end of the investigation coincided with the horses recovery. To this day we still have people falsely accuse us of animal abuse and it seems there is nothing we can do about it. Thank you for considering buying our book. We know you will learn a lot about the animal protection industry. There was a lot we didn't understand 6 years ago and we suspect there is a lot you may not understand.
Laura and Rick Bell

 

 

copied from the Amazon site where the book is for sale

 

 

"'The Animal Rights War' exposes the seedy underbelly of the Animal Protection Industry (API). In this modern age of social media, most people have seen or imagined the positive affects of the evolving API, but there are disturbing affects too. 'The Animal Rights War' is a unique compilation of facts, combined with real stories of interactions between animal owners and the Animal Protection Industry (API). Do you really know the difference between Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Animal Rescue, and Animal Advocacy? Have you considered what positive AND negative affects social media has had on the API? 'The Animal Rights War' identifies all of the different groups, sectors, and sub-sectors that make up the Animal Protection Industry (API). APIs include self-funded rescues and sanctuaries, donation-funded rescues, humane societies, and SPCAs, and taxpayer-funded government agencies, and everything in between. You will see how money, politics, social media, and human nature are all playing a role in structuring an Animal Protection Industry that isn't always fair or just. Most of us want animals treated well, so we support Animal Protection Organizations with our time and money. While there are many good Animal Protection Organizations, new laws and social media have allowed the API to become corrupted by an ever increasing number of bad actors. 'The Animal Rights War' is the only resource available today that tells the WHOLE story.One thing is for sure; when you get done reading 'The Animal Rights War' you will have a much better grasp of where your API donations go and you will have been advised on how to protect yourself, family members, friends, and animals from the bad actors. You will be surprised to learn what is going on in the Animal Protection Industry, we guarantee it! Buy 'The Animal Rights War' now!

Edited July 1, 2019 by asal

[Little Gifts]

I used to actively support the RSPCA and thought the sun shone out of their bums. I volunteered at one of their shelters regularly and was also a foster carer. Even though on the ground staff hadn't changed I started to notice decisions and processes that were not in the best interest of the animals at all. It became all about the organisation's needs at the expense of the animals. Even in a volunteer capacity I started to feel very manipulated. My breaking point was being repeatedly 'asked' one shift to foster a young pup with a broken leg or it would have to be pts. Yep, that was it's 2 options, all on me. I fostered it of course but my relationship with them ground to a halt after the pup was adopted. They had no right to put that on me.

 

And it hasn't got any better. I've experienced negative impacts on animals via independant rescue work, through friends and families personal experiences and also my own. What I despise about them the most (well there is a list really) but first is how they use emotive images of abused animals to raise funds but those funds don't go to that particular dog. Noooo! That dog was likely already put to sleep for its injuries because it would cost too much to vet care and rehab them! But they are the animals who need the assistance most! Two is that if they were truly doing all the protective and rehabilitative work that people think they are all the squillions of independant rescue groups wouldn't need to exist. RSPCA would be the hallmark rescue program successfully saving all creatures great and small. Instead we've had every form of rescue you can imagine spring up to do the work they should be doing. Then we come to my third hate - RSPCA having all the money (public and government) and farming out animals to independant and breed specific rescues who do all the work (fostering, vet care, feeding and medicating them) and the RSPCA keeping all the money and recording that as a positive rehoming on their stats. So rescue does all the work with none of the money or pats on the back! How is that ok? How did that deal even come about???? It happened because rescue were simply trying to save more animals than the RSPCA would and struck a one sided deal.

 

The money they access is astounding yet they are always screaming for more. Up here in QLD there are funding programs charity organisations can apply to (the monies come from gambling benefits). I know for a fact that the RSPCA not only apply for big monies pretty much every funding round but they are also successful pretty much every funding round. It's been like that for years too. It's how they built their Wacol facility. There is no other single rescue organisation in this country that even comes close to a bulging bank balance. I wouldn't begrudge them that if they weren't always crying extreme poverty and poor animals whilst doing very little in relation to public education (to improve dogs care and reduce surrender rates), addressing back yard breeding and puppy farming (over supply feeding into the rescue system) and being a strong voice for the animals in cruelty cases (so we can provide better deterrents for animal harm).

 

If the RSPCA ceased to exist tomorrow I'm not really sure what difference it would make? Independant rescues are already on scene to take animals every time there is a hoarding or puppy farming seizure. So few cases go to court for prosecution that they could go back to police prosecution processes. I guess their shelters could be taken over by another organisation, particularly those that are also running as pounds. Unwanted animals are already dumped on the steps of rescue, pounds, vets and the streets so that wont change. Perhaps local councils would have to take responsibility for public education and animal welfare in their own areas more successfully? Many used to do this.

 

What do others think? What unique services are they successfully offering? I think in QLD they have a fostering program for people escaping DV but with funds and foster carers that could be replicated by any rescue.

[asal]

zzzz  Yes,  just about everyone is asleep at the wheel...

 

I twigged what was going on in 2000 after becoming a felon for a dog with nothing wrong with it, just because a dill with an rspca uniform formed an opinion (with no knowledge of the subject anyway)....... that is unappealable....

 

I gather this lady is an American.  

 

The warning is clear and she is right....   look at the victorian Breeder who send a pup co-owned to S.A.only last week,   the new  co=owners vet has told her the new law is that ALL puppies born after the new law came into effect must be desexed by six months or he will have to report her and her puppy for prosecution.

They may have to send the puppy back to Vic if they want to use her for breeding...... believe it or not?  Its on one of the ANKC forums

 

 

Australians need to wake up, the rspca here are further advanced which means if we don't become exponentially more vocal - and fast, this will be our reality in half the time predicted in this post.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1509679472674969?view=permalink&id=2083070482002529

 

‎Linda L. Minten‎ to Farmers to Felons - laws, regulations, and the advancement of animal rights

Yesterday at 06:01

Most folks are skeptical when they hear my warnings.. figure I am just a loon. Over the course of several years we have posted facts based on my crazy. We have said there will be overly restrictive laws that discourage animal ownership... putting average owners at risk of felony charges (check), We said the AR groups control the legislative and judicial process (check), we have said some of the vets being utilized are AR affiliated (check), we have talked about the financial gain for rescues to instigate and participate in seizures with immunity (check)... We have said this is an environmental agenda and it is all tied in to one (check).. We have demonstrated that they divide and conquer using one group to destroy the other (check). Here is the deal.. the goal is NO animals because they are bad for the environment. It means less people too.

So if you own a pet, are a farmer, ride horses, rodeo, eat meat, or even if you are a vegan on (their side)... you are each and every one of you at risk.. maybe not today, but you are at risk.

Gone will be the circus, zoos, rodeos, animal sports/shows, breeders, farmers, timber, service animals, and eventually pets (after they get done using those people's donations to take everyone else out). No domestic animals, no food. We, you and I, are the enemy they seek to destroy on behalf of the planet.

So while you can sit on your high horse and tell the world how great of an owner you are and that it would never effect you and the person being accused must be guilty - think again. Take a hard look at what is happening around you and realize it isn't just effecting the bad guys, it is effecting the good. Your rights to own an animal or farm your ground, and in some cases drive or use your vehicle and cut a tree... to use your property as if you owned it rather than the government... all those things are at risk. Same enemy wearing different masks and they use us to do their bidding.

So if you are a good guy and live a perfect life and think you are good.. you are NOT. While easy to jump on the bandwagon to destroy someone based on information you can't personally verify please remember it can and someday may be you or someone you love. The poor guy who builds a pond for fire protection.. the old lady next door feeding feral cats... YOU because your fifteen year old dog has tarter and you decided not to risk having them put out anymore. Not your call anymore because they have infiltrated every aspect of our life with our collective help. It is going to get worse.

Call me crazy but I predict within five years it will be nearly impossible to own an animal legally without risk of being charged as a felon. (in many cases we are there already). I believe breeders will be a thing of the past. We will shut down imports then and require spaying of all pets. A lot of farmers are going to bail because they just can't keep up with all the regulation and attacks. We will have some problem that creates food shortages because we have set ourselves up for food insecurity.. We will cram people into cities, the country will be left to the rich and wild. You may be allowed to have a car.. or not. They will tax and legislate us until we are no longer a free nation. We can no longer enjoy the right to liberty or freedom. Yes, I am crazy - crazy scared. I saw it years ago and finally some are starting to wake up.. but even in these groups I see them helping the AR agenda (better renamed the environmental agenda cause it has nothing more to do with animals then eliminating them) by infighting or jumping on the dang bandwagon without facts. My opinion for sure and I really really hope I am wrong.

For kicks and giggles, look around your home, property, at your animals and tell me if you looked through the lens of an animal rights advocate who's goal is to eliminate animals (one generation and out, better dead then bred), accompanied by a "rescue" hoping to benefit financially with no risk to them (immunity) - would you survive it? Think long and hard cause I know a lot of people who dearly love their animals that would find themselves felons.

We better get it together and start working as a team rather than against each other or this ship will sail and there will be nothing but would have should have could haves... my opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by asal

[_PL_]

1 hour ago, asal said:

 

For kicks and giggles, look around your home, property, at your animals and tell me if you looked through the lens of an animal rights advocate who's goal is to eliminate animals (one generation and out, better dead then bred), accompanied by a "rescue" hoping to benefit financially with no risk to them (immunity) - would you survive it? Think long and hard cause I know a lot of people who dearly love their animals that would find themselves felons.

We better get it together and start working as a team rather than against each other or this ship will sail and there will be nothing but would have should have could haves... my opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

Nup, sorry, that's where she lost me. And then she throws in the 'working together' line! Great way to get the team together.  

 

I'm yet to benefit financially and if it wasn't for donations and the unpaid hours we put in there wouldn't be a rescue to speak of. I also own a pedigree dog myself (and I'm not the only one) so where is the anti-breeder ethos here. 

 

And I don't know what it's like in the U.S. but some states like VIC have rescue under the same umbrella as breeders so rescue aren't magically immune from AR or Govt pressure.