Many healthy animals are euthanised by the RSPCA every year, simply because they can't find homes. In an attempt for the RSPCA to protect their reputation they are willing to sacrifice the lives of the animals they vow to protect. Many members of staff have turned their backs on the organisation they say is unrecognisable. You only need to Google this to discover it's a fact. 

I have found it very difficult to explain to people that the RSPCA has become corrupt. I do not doubt what they wish to achieve, but unfortunately members of the public and staff are blinded by the marketing techniques that they practice. 

After being accused of lying and told I must have a tactical gain, I want to make it clear I do not have a vendetta out against the RSPCA, but I do want justice for my cat and any other animals that suffer as a result of them. 

The following is a letter that I have emailed to the RSPCA on 21/02/2015. It explains exactly why I have the views that I do and what I think should be done about it. I hope that you can take your time to read it and sign this petition to stop it happening again. By signing this petition you are not forsaking the RSPCA, but you are trying to protect the animals that fall victim to the bad side of the organisation. 

RSPCA
Middlesbrough South Tees and District Branch

To whom it may concern,

I implore you to read this letter and not discard it.

I am writing to you in regards to an incident which happened 24th October 2013.

My grandmother has already contacted you after the incident, however the response we received was far from satisfactory. You disregarded the matters raised and failed to understand our argument.

My cat, Sophie-Socks, was taken from my garden in Middlesbrough on 24/10/2013, we were not notified and spent the afternoon wandering the streets to find her. She had been in the house at 2:00pm, but by 3:30pm when my younger brother finished school and came in to feed her as usual, she was missing.

RSPCA worker Emma Stainforth had taken her from the garden and took her to Jacqui Patersons vets, Preston Farm. Although her collar (which Miss Stainforth felt the need to comment on) contained our telephone number, she failed to contact us until 7:00pm, the vets had closed and it was too late to go and get her, she accused us of animal cruelty over the phone.

She told us our cat was too skinny, told us her collar was scruffy and suggested that we didn’t care enough to pay any vet bills.

She spoke to my mother like she was a criminal, a criminal for doing nothing but caring for an animal for the past 20 years.

After a sleepless night and much persuasion, my mum managed to get Sophie back from the vet the next morning. The vet told us that they understood she was simply showing symptoms of old age and nothing else. The cat which was returned to us didn’t resemble the one we had played with the day before. I do not doubt the care of the vet, however the stress of being kept there overnight, due to the actions of Miss Stainforth, led to her decline.

She could not stand, she was soaked in vomit and couldn’t open her eyes. My little cat hadn’t spent a night away from home in 20 year. The last thing she needed when she was old and frail was the trauma you caused her.

All we ever did was consider her best interests. The reasons behind the circumstances are as follows:

She was 20 year old.

She was perfectly happy and not in any pain.

We left her collar loose in the event she got her neck caught on anything and strangled herself. (We would rather lose the collar than her.)  

The collar was brand new 3 month before her death.

We wanted her to die peacefully at home and in her bed with the people that loved her. (She wasn’t in any way suffering for us to consider putting her to sleep.)

Because of the state she was in when we got her back, we immediately visited our vet, Miller Stokesley Veterinary Practice, they stated we “were being kind keeping her” and they were, “certain the stress of being snatched from the streets was the cause of her death.” They told us she had renal failure and would have had a few weeks left if it weren’t for the trauma of being taken from us. They were confident in that she was healthy before that and astonished at the quality of her fur and teeth at such an age.

My mum had to make the decision to have her put to sleep. I went with her to say my final goodbyes. When I reached the vets she was in a cage, half asleep and drowsy, I can only thank god that I got chance to say goodbye to her. My heart was absolutely broken. 

I grew up in a household which has many years of history caring for sick and injured animals, not only for the RSPCA, but any organisation that needed help. I will never forgive or forget the fact that a charity I trusted and that my family have done a lot of work for, are responsible for taking my last few weeks with her away from me. I just want to make it clear how much she meant to me.

When I was 1 year old, we visited a farm, and they desperately needed homes for kittens, while everyone was choosing, I crawled under the table and pulled out a hiding kitten. She was tiny, she had little white socks and beautiful green eyes, so my mum brought her home.

My entire life I shared so many moments and she comforted me through all of them. She was the most gentle creature and she loved us as much as we loved her. She was so small, everybody that saw her thought she was still a kitten, she always had been small but ate like a horse.

The Summer before she died we had family barbeques in the July time and I have photographic evidence of the collar which Sophie had on at that time. It was bright yellow. She was taken from us in October and your member of staff insulted her collar which was a new black collar. How often do you suggest we change a cat’s collar?

I am 22 years old and up until a member of your staff took my cat away, I hadn’t known any different than to have my Sophie-Socks in my life. I had lost family members, boyfriends and friends, yet that whole time, I had my cat to make me realise life goes on.

I can never forgive you for the trauma that has been caused by your organisation, you took away the last days with one of the most loved members of my life.

I never have and never will come across another animal that will impact my life like she has, just a cat to anybody else, but she was a symbol of my youth and life so far.

The reason I have told you all of this is to express how much I loved that little cat. She was so much more than a pet to me, she was huge part of life, and my family treasured her just as much as I did.

For you to assume and accuse us of hurting her in any way breaks my heart more than I can explain.

I am also aware that I am not the only one this has happened to. I had the pleasure of speaking with the owner of Claude the cat. The RSPCA issued an apology to the family for putting their cat to sleep which was quite frankly an insult. Publishing pictures of a cat that was unrecognisable to them the day before, I am devastated for them, you have taken away something worth so much more than your organisations reputation.

Which also brings me to the point that the damage you do is not just to the animal. Children and family members are greatly affected. My 6 year old brother was badly affected and couldn’t understand why someone would do that to his cat.

You may be sitting there, asking yourself if I am lying, or where did it go wrong, but I must tell you that I have no reason to lie. I commit my life to protecting animals and wildlife and I will die a happy person if I know my life’s work has gone towards a cause that I love. As I have already mentioned my family have accepted hundreds of animals to care for and release back into the wild from the RSPCA and would never deny care to any creature.

So I desperately ask that the protocol used to take animals from their owners is reviewed and that we receive a well-deserved apology. The irony of it is that I saw a picture posted on the RSPCA (England & Wales) Facebook page which briefly outlines the life expectancy of cats, the oldest cat was 16. Are your staff not led to believe that a cat can live past the age of 16? Perhaps they should be made aware of what to expect in an elderly cat. Under no circumstances should you take an animal away from somebodies possession without assessing the circumstances.

I have taken so long to contact you about this because we had been threatened with court proceedings and prosecution, however it still hurts so much to see the RSPCA broadcast advertisements where animals are being taken from such horrible conditions, but my cat was taken from her secure garden, where she had everything she could have wanted.

I can’t ignore the ignorance of the RSPCA anymore. We deserve an apology, and you should, if you truly care about animals, do everything in your power to stop this happening again.

The last response which my grandmother received was insulting, the woman responsible was protected, Emma Stainforth is hands down the reason why my cat is no longer alive. If she was just following your protocol, it is you that needs to make a change, otherwise, you should not be protecting her actions.

My grandmother informed you that we would be contacting the media if we did not receive a satisfactory response and so I have started a petition on Change.org to get further support. As a journalist I will take this to the press. I will expose the RSPCA for the organisation it truly is and I will never stop trying. My cat deserved so much more, I can’t let her be brushed under the carpet like another one of the poor animals the RSPCA is responsible for the death of.

I hope to hear back from you soon,

Regards,

Mary Rudgard.

I will update this petition will replies and progress.