Another poor example of RSPCA politics!

[feorag]

Sorry that should have read practices, not politics! I'm so mad I can't even type properly!!

As some of you know I work at a wildlife sanctuary and I’ve just spoken to my boss who has told me this story!

Apparently a lurcher broke free from it’s owner and attacked a young stag. It chased it across a road in front of a car being driven by a friend of my bosses. The stag was cornered, but the guy managed to get hold of the dog, but then the stag, obviously in terror, jumped down a steep embankment and ended up stuck in a muddy trench running along a river. So the guy phoned my bosses, who were on a day out with their family who were visiting from Sweden and they abandoned their trip and went to try and help.

In the meantime a lot of locals had gathered, a vet had been phoned, who wanted to know who would be paying the bill before they came out and the fire brigade because of the sheer 6’ or more drop down to the trench and they wouldn’t come out, so there was only the police there when my bosses arrived in their ‘Sunday best’.

The locals pulled out all the stops and got them wellies and blankets to cover the deer’s head and my bosses and their friend went down into the trench to get the deer. While they were down there, the RSPCA arrived. The guy apparently pushed his way through the crowd saying he was here to destroy the deer, which then caused an outcry!!

My boss climbed out of the trench and asked why he was going to put the deer down, when he hadn’t even examined it and his reply was “Wild animals don’t survive in captivity”. My boss explained (as he obviously had no idea who they were) that they’d been running a wildlife sanctuary for over 17 years and had loads of wild animals which had survived severe road accidents etc, some of which, like 2 of our foxes were now over 16 years old and were surviving very well. His response was that the RSPCA had been doing it for over 100 years and they don’t!

Her husband said that the deer appeared to have no fractures, but if the RSPCA guy found that he’d a fractured leg, then they would agree that the animal had to be euthanased, but if the damage was superficial, then they would take him back to the sanctuary and give him a chance. The RSPCA guy insisted he had to be euthanased, so my boss kinda said ‘over my dead body’ and the locals all agreed that the deer deserved a chance to survive.

It took the 3 of them nearly an hour to get the deer out of the trench, with no help from the police, or the RSPCA guy who stood and watched while my boss’s husband and his friend lifted this deer up over their heads and she stood on the top of the bank and pulled it onto the ground – they were up to their ears in mud.

They then asked the RSPCA guy if he would transport the deer the 6 miles to their sanctuary and he refused! His reply “unless a wild animal can be released at the site, they won’t transport it!” So the poor deer had to be put into the back of my boss’s estate car boot and transported back to the sanctuary, where it was examined by their vet, who said no broken bones, just the dog bites and severe stress.

It survived the night, but sadly died the next day, but it does beg the question a) if a vet had come straight out and sedated it and b) if the RSPCA officer had helped them to get it out, making the rescue quicker and therefore less stressful and transported it in his van, might it have survived??

There’s been such an outcry and loads of the locals have written to their local paper to object about the RSPCA’s handling of the situation!

It does make you wonder how wildlife rescue centre like St Tiggywinkles manage to cure and rear young deer and loads of other wildlife by the thousands and then release them back into the wild though, doesn’t it?

It also makes you wonder that when you watch all these rescue programmes on TV and see the RSPCA up to their ears in mud rescuing wild animals and then transporting them to vets or wildlife centres for treatment – is this because the public who keep them all in jobs with their generous donations are watching and how do they deal with all the other situations that arise when the cameras aren’t filming??

No prizes for guessing the answer to that one!

[LoveForLizards]

Why doesn't this suprise me? The *least* the RSPCA could have done was sedated the deer (on wildlife rescues they HAVE to carry sedation equipment) to make it less stressful. Its times like this I hate being part of the human race

[bosshogg]

poor thing shame it had to go through all that, from what I have seen, read and watched Deer don't do very well in that kind of situations and do tend to die from shock.

[georgieabc123]

that guy sounds like a right twt i think the wildlife rescue guy did the right thingbut its a shame it didnt survive

[Pimperella]

Thats disgracefull and unsurprising. The RSPCA are a joke. Claiming to care for animals when in fact they care more about money.

[feorag]

Exactly the point. They have the money and all the rescue centres, like ours, struggling to stay afloat have all the animals.

I'm sure the deer was on a "hiding to nothing" after being attacked and then all that manhandling to get him out - they are so easily stressed, but as he didn't have any life-threatening injuries he deserved a chance!

Over the years my bosses have hand reared quite a few fawns, keeping a great distance from them, keeping them quiet and avoiding any handling except to feed and, without exception, they all died. Then 9 years ago a fawn came in which was found standing at the roadside beside it's dead mother. This time they decided that maybe a live 'humanised' fawn was better than a dead one and so they spent time with her, fed her and sat with her and she survived. She lived at our sanctuary for 7 years until some b*stards broke in and killed her for her meat!!

[ferretlad]

Very sad to read this, and a huge shame on the R.S.P.C.A for standing back and watching and animal in distress. I did think a vet would treat Wild Life for free, my vet dont charge if i find a wild bird or animal on the road that needs treatment.

[Shell195]

Another RSPCA fail. IMO they only function well if a camera crew are there to film it. Wildlife Aid do seem to have a high success rate with deer so it was well worth a try to save this stag. Our vets dont charge for helping wildlife they are excellent. Poor deer I hope this makes the main news to make more people aware at how crap the RSPCA really are

[Emmaj]

Its disgusting its not surprising though at all

im sure that badgers mum had a problem with them too over a lil dear

[feorag]

Yes, she did. She found a very young fawn under her car one morning and called them. They came and euthanased it, because they don't live in captivity.

I read the thread, but a long time after she posted it and she was mad cos if she'd know they were going to do that she would never have called them!