ISPCA- Your honest opinions

Dublingirl23

Hi all

I'm new here on the boards and I used to work for the ISPCA. I just wanted to ask people how they find the ISPCA in general?

Hope it's ok to post this here, was just interested in some feedback.

Thanks in advance.

lubie76

I am warey of criticising the organisation as from what I hear on these forums they do a good job but I just want to tell you my one and only experience with them. Last week I came across an accident where a lorry containing 60 pigs had overturned on a main roundabout in Sligo on a busy Friday evening. I came through the area about an hour and a half after it happened and the pigs were all put in behind a railing at the roundabout clearly in distress with bad injuries in shock and some of them dead. I tried to ring the Sligo ISPCA but was told there was no representative in Sligo. I emailed the ISPCA information line earlier this week to see if there had been any representative at the scene or even if they had been aware of the incident but got no reply. I know this is probably considered more of an area for the department of agriculture but surely the ISPCA should have been there too and anyone I talked to that had been at the scene had not been aware of their presence. As I have not been contacted by the organisation themselves after leaving my contact details I am disappointed that they could not take the time to acknowledge my enquiry.

Toulouse

I've only had call to ring once. It was about a terrified collie living rough by the side of the M7, I was scared he'd get flattened and needed help to catch him. They didn't want to know, didn't deal with 'strays', didn't offer any other ideas. I volunteer for some rescue groups so I'd have taken him myself, I just needed some help.

In the end another woman ended up catching him and he was rehomed.

rosiec

i've only dealt with them myself on one occassion but that was enough. I was driving along a road when a dog ran out and got knocked down by a car infront of me. I couldnt stop myself (safety reasons) so i got my passanger to call the local ispca. They were REALLY rude and unhelpful. They basically said that if i was concerned about the dog then i'd have stopped myself instead of ringing them.

littlebug

I've rung them once when I saw a stray cat get hit by a car and drag itself by it's front legs (presumably paralysed) off under another car. it took me ages to actually get through to them but in fairness once I did they were out fairly quickly and took the cat away. This was in Rathmines though and I think they were based fairly close by.

Amimad

My experiences would be with a regional branch of the SPCA & I've never had much joy.

1st i adopted Cliath, no home check they just gave me the dog.
The early in my dog career, I decided it would be nice to foster puppies. I went out & picked up a collie, he stayed with us for nearly 4mths & when I rang them(since they hadn't been in touch) to see if they had found him a home. The response I got was 'oh, that's were that dog is'. I couldn't believe it, so i arranged to return him, & pick up another puppy. Timmy came home & again nobody from the SPCA followed up, but that story ends well, he's still with us 6 years on.
I've also found a few strays & had no luck getting any help from the SPCA,they suggest I call the dog warden !:eek: I rehomed both myself.
If they can't help individuals good enough to rescue an animal,

didn't deal with 'strays'

. Why? Are their shelters full all the time. What are their criteria for taking in animals.
I also have a query can anyone confirm that the SPCA have any qualified animal behaviourists(or people with animal experience) working for them or do they continue to employ people eligible for back to work schemes?

echosound

Had to ring as a stray cat got trapped in an inaccessable yard behind the place I was working in (ie we couldn't get into it and the building it was a part of was disused and we didn't know who to contact re access) so after a few hours, a chap came out with a cage and materials to try and catch the cat, really nice chap actually, and the cat eventually scrawbed the face off him and escaped to safety outside the yard. This was in Kilkenny, and i think it was a chap who the ISPCA used to call for Kilkenny rescues etc, rather than a direct ISPCA person IYKWIM, so that experience was good.

However my mother had problems with stray cats in the field behind her house multiplying like crazy, malnourished etc, and was blue in the face ringing the ISPCA to see if they could do anything (rural area) and when I was living in Dublin, I found an abandoned kitten and again rang to see if they could do anything, they basically laughed at me and I ended up rescuing the kitten and keeping him myself. So good and bad.

I won't name the branch that I had the worst experience of (not any of the above counties), but suffice to say they got in trouble years ago for putting down dogs instead of rehoming them.

Dublingirl23

Thanks for all your honest replys. I agree with most of you. It's not entirely the ISPCA'S fault though. The goverment don't give them an awful lot of money to run their shelters off. I myself found it crazy that there is only 9-12 inspectors in the entire country (excluding DSPCA).

It does make me wonder, where the animals stand in this country, not very high up on the goverments list, by the looks of things.

I'm sorry to hear that some of you found the ISPCA rude, I always did my best to make sure that the animals interest was put first.

I did make enquiries into why there are only 12 inspectors. I want to become an inspector myself, but there is no training program for me to do so. I find this absurd.

Someone asked what the criteria is to get an animal into the shelter: Well i queried that too. It always seemed we were "full". In fairness though, there was a few times when the inspectors would bring in a vast amount of puppies and kittens from raids on puppy farms etc. It does make me wonder why more hasn't been done to perhaps open more shelters.

I know a lady who runs a shelter, and gets 20,000 euros a year from the goverment. She can't get any more money because she is not an ISPCA registered shelter. Crazy isn't it? When she did apply to them to see if they would help her out she was told "No". Yet she would take some of the animals from their shelters and re-home them herself.

All in all, it's not an ideal set-up at all. There is room for about 25 dogs and 30 cats at the ISPCA'S HQ. Not enough. The goverment need to wake up and cop onto the fact that animal abuse is huge here in Ireland. 12 inspectors cant cover 26 counties, its just not on.

echosound

is it only 12 inspectors? jeez that's awful alright. Good to hear you are trying to work towards some change there, Dublingirl123.

Probably explains why the ISPCA can't do what they're supposed to - I know personally of a case whereby numerous complains were made about a certain chap who was mistreating his dogs, eventually after many years of complains from neighbours he was barred from keeping animals ever again, and his dogs taken off him, but sure a month later he had a rake of dogs back again, locking them up 24/7 in small unsuitable sheds and mistreating them and starving them. No amount of complaints made since have ever resulted in anyone coming back out to assess or to take the dogs off him again. This man is living beside relatives of mine, and they have been very pro-active in complaining about him, but still nothing is done and they have to listen to the dogs howl until they get too weak to even do that and eventually die, they can't even help the dogs themselves as when they offered to go in and feed and walk the dogs they were met with abuse and threats of violence towards both them and their pets (cats).

Just as a matter of interest, I am just curious here and am a bit ignorant of what happens in these cases - do the ISPCA have to deal with livestock being mistreated? I've read of many cases of farmers in court due to starving their animals and leaving carcasses on their land, is this more a case for veterinarians and guards or do the ISPCA have to handle these cases too? I can see how 12 inspectors might be a bit overworked.

Dublingirl23

echosound wrote: »

is it only 12 inspectors? jeez that's awful alright. Good to hear you are trying to work towards some change there, Dublingirl123.

Probably explains why the ISPCA can't do what they're supposed to - I know personally of a case whereby numerous complains were made about a certain chap who was mistreating his dogs, eventually after many years of complains from neighbours he was barred from keeping animals ever again, and his dogs taken off him, but sure a month later he had a rake of dogs back again, locking them up 24/7 in small unsuitable sheds and mistreating them and starving them. No amount of complaints made since have ever resulted in anyone coming back out to assess or to take the dogs off him again. This man is living beside relatives of mine

Just as a matter of interest, I am just curious here and am a bit ignorant of what happens in these cases - do the ISPCA have to deal with livestock being mistreated? I've read of many cases of farmers in court due to starving their animals and leaving carcasses on their land, is this more a case for veterinarians and guards or do the ISPCA have to handle these cases too? I can see how 12 inspectors might be a bit overworked.

Ok the livestock issue has always confused me. When I was working in the ISPCA, i was told the it was the Dept of Agriculture who deal with these cases unless it has been 48 hours since an animal (livestock) has died, then it's the gardaí.

Also, if you could pm me Re: This "man":mad: Only if you want me to see if I can do anything about it, I will try my best.

BeansMeansHynes

Fair play to you Dublingirl. If there were only more people out there like you.

Dublingirl23

Thanks very much.:) I do think a lot of this is caused by our goverment though. No offense to people who like the "Spire" but 20,000 a day on hiring the cranes?? That would keep a good few animals fed and sheltered for ages. Sadly, they're too silly to see that.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

echosound

unfortunately a lot of money goes to ridiculous things that would be well spent elsewhere. Payrises for politicians when the HSE is in a budget freeze is one that springs to mind immediately :mad: Don't get me started.

Thanks for the offer Dublingirl, I will talk to my relatives and see if the situation is still ongoing with them, and I'll PM you if I find out he's still got dogs, it's been a while since I was out visiting there, it's so good to see people trying to do their best for animal welfare, fair play to you.

Dublingirl23

No problem Echo, I don't get how people are so evil and cruel. How would they like to be starved, locked up etc. Do keep me posted on the situation, I'm eager to see evil animal abusers caught and prosecuted.

golden

First of all the ISPCA is a charity and not a government funded organisation. Alot of people are volunteers who do work for the ISPCA and do it in their free time. There is alot more that goes on behind the scene than people realise and unfortunately they and like many other shelters are required.

Dublingirl23

I started off there as a Volunteer. I know they don't have a lot of money. My whole point is that something should be done by the goverment to expand the budget in Animal Welfare.

Rigsby

Dublingirl23 wrote: »

I don't get how people are so evil and cruel. How would they like to be starved, locked up etc.

You've hit the nail on the head here. While I agree 100% that a lot more money is needed for animal welfare, what's also needed is for people to change their mindset towards animals. We in Ireland put down more unwanted pets per head of population than any other country in western Europe. If people were a little more thoughtful and responsible we would n't need shelters at all (at least not near as many as now).

Shelli

Dublingirl23 wrote: »

I started off there as a Volunteer. I know they don't have a lot of money. My whole point is that something should be done by the goverment to expand the budget in Animal Welfare.

I would love to volunteer and have plenty of time on my hands. How do you get into something like that? I've called a few of the numbers on the websites but nobody seems to know.

EGAR

9 Pounds in Ireland are run by the ISPCA.

Our man in Havana

Not had much dealings with the ISPCA over here I am much more used to the RSPCA & they do great work.

Talk to ANVIL (Animals need a voice in legislation) they & others like EGAR are trying to change the way animals are thought of & treated in Irleand.

Chiron

I posted here a while back about a staffie being left alone all day. When I rang the DSPCA for advice the woman who answerd the telephone could not have been ruder or shorter with me if she tried. There really was no need for it. I called Dogs in Distress and while there was nothing they or I could do about the situation at least she listned to me and was as helpful as she could.
Whenever I donate to charity it is either to animal or cancer charities and the DSPCA has just fallen a couple of rungs down on my list of priorities.

sillymoo

I have rung about a stray cat about a year ago and the DSPCA basically said that they could not take the stray and recomended bringing the poor thing to the pound :eek: Needless to say the big chap is still with us as I am well aware what happens to strays in the pound......... "lady and the tramp" springs to mind.

Fair play Dublingirl for speaking out and bringing this up. Im sure the ISPCA does good work but unfortunately they are far too overworked and do not recieve funding and a lot of people have bad experiences with them.

summer_ina_bowl

Many of the spca's get little or no direct help from the ispca, they actually have to pay the ispca for affiliation rights and insurance. i think many people are really hard on the smaller spca's and animal shelters. goverment funding is ridiculously mean and animals rights are based on trivial laws from hundreds of years ago. a large dog eats 10 euro worth of food a week. basic vaccinations cost 50 euro. required microchipping cost 30 per dog.f lea and worm treatments can cost 15 euro per month. it can cost 200 euro to get a large breed female spayed. a routine health check up costs 40 euro. a mild stomach bug can cost 80 in treatment. imagine the cost of this bug spreading through kennels housing thirty dogs.

imagine. your facilities are prehistoric. you have approx 30 dogs in your care at any one time. you re-home approx 90 a year. you recieve 10,000 gov funding per annum. i'm not a genius but those funds don't add up. you get up every day, and clean up after 30 dogs, you feed 30 dogs, you care for 30 dogs. you do this almost alone with just a few regular volunteers.

the spca's don't take in strays because their job is to alleviate suffering. sadly, for monetary reasons shelters cannot afford to take in every stray dog. yes, it is sad that many are put down in pounds but do not blame the people who have dedicated their whole lives to helping animals, do you know the love and devotion you need to have the strength to deal with horrific cruelty cases on a daily basis? cases so bad that you are ashamed to be human?!

don't blame these people.

blame the people who don't think that their pet is their responsibility. blame the people who take on pets that they can't won't look after. blame the education system that does not teach children the needs and feelings of animals. blame the government who'd rather pay for make up for their politicians than information for the public. blame the people who don't restrain thier pets - pets that get lost, injured and breed uncontrolled.

don't blame the small shelters, the little spca's - the people, the VOLUNTEERS who give up their time, money and emotions to care for abandoned, hopeless, shattered animals.


please, cut these people a break. if they could save every dog, cat, mouse etc - they would. do you know how hard it is to be the one to make a decision that you know will result in an animal being euthanised.

why do you feel that these people should be any more responsible for a stray than you? sure, they get funding for thr purpose but not enough to help every animal.

if you do not like what they do. ring up, offer your help, time, money, experience, opinions and ideas, campaign for more funding, raise awareness.


and when people criticise you, even though you give everything you can to your cause, tell them.... do something.

MsFifers

Well said Summer-ina-Bowl.

Too often local services are completely dependent on one or two key people. In the county I work in, the person who had been doing the animal rescue had to retire and now there are just a couple of commited people doing stuff off their own bat with no or very little support.

Whats worse is now there is no formal organisation, people who are interested in volunteering in this area have nowhere to go and link up with others. Its a bad situation - and you have inspired me to do something about it asap!!!

Also I think we should all be lobbying the govt to increase the funding they allocate to animal welfare and rescue agencies. I presume this falls into the Dept of Ag. responsibility? I'll write a letter so I will! That'll show them!;)

Whispered

I'd like to know how to go about volunteering, I'm not in a position to donate money at the moment, if I did it really would be negligable so my time would be more valuable. I dont have any animal related skills (besides being an animal lover and being brought up with dogs). We could consider fostering, but we work all day, and we have two cats. So what use would I be? Administration work would not be a problem, but I work all week so it could only be evenings and weekends I could help out.

summer_ina_bowl

everyone can help in some way, my local spca does a dog walk every sunday and anyone can arrive and walk a dog! it's great fun, you meet some great people and the most charming dogs, you get good exercise and you go home knowing you've made a dogs weeks just by giving it your attention for one hour! the spca inspector will arrange to meet people for dog walks during the week if they'd like to help but can't make it on sundays. most shelters will do the same. its a small thing but it really makes a huge difference, a dog who is well handled tends to be much better behaved and less nervous of new people - this hugely increases their chance of finding a permanent home!

people who can should contact their local spca's and shelters about sponsorship programmes which really benifit both the shelters and the donators on many levels! (for more info on sponsorship programmes watch the afternoon show on wednesday!)

do you have old/spare blankets/towels/suitable toys? i've never known a shelter to turn down any useful donations!

for less hands on help, contact your local shelter and ask if they'd like help with typing/printing info flyers. if they're holding tablequizzes etc - just showing up helps!

could you offer small/injured/young animals a foster home for a couple of weeks?

if you find a stray that you can home for a while, contact local shelters and explain that you will home the animal temporarily to give them a chance before sending them to the pound but ask could they keep a photo and details and show it to people looking to permanently rehome animals.

less directly, recommend friends and family to get their pets neutered and to keep them properly restrained. try to teach all children you know that animals require alot of responsible care, because they depend entirely on their owners to provide for their needs!

the majority of people get involved with shelters through people they know, so one of the best things you can do is raise awareness!

Whispered

Thanks summer, I mailed my local spca and offered my services, cleaning, admin, walking etc. We'll see if they can use me at all. I'll let you know. Also I'd like you to know that I have been thinking about volunteering for a while but it was your post that pushed me to do something about it so Thanks

Clare Bear

echosound wrote: »

is it only 12 inspectors? jeez that's awful alright. Good to hear you are trying to work towards some change there, Dublingirl123.

Probably explains why the ISPCA can't do what they're supposed to - I know personally of a case whereby numerous complains were made about a certain chap who was mistreating his dogs, eventually after many years of complains from neighbours he was barred from keeping animals ever again, and his dogs taken off him, but sure a month later he had a rake of dogs back again, locking them up 24/7 in small unsuitable sheds and mistreating them and starving them. No amount of complaints made since have ever resulted in anyone coming back out to assess or to take the dogs off him again. This man is living beside relatives of mine, and they have been very pro-active in complaining about him, but still nothing is done and they have to listen to the dogs howl until they get too weak to even do that and eventually die, they can't even help the dogs themselves as when they offered to go in and feed and walk the dogs they were met with abuse and threats of violence towards both them and their pets (cats).

Just as a matter of interest, I am just curious here and am a bit ignorant of what happens in these cases - do the ISPCA have to deal with livestock being mistreated? I've read of many cases of farmers in court due to starving their animals and leaving carcasses on their land, is this more a case for veterinarians and guards or do the ISPCA have to handle these cases too? I can see how 12 inspectors might be a bit overworked .

That bastard should be locked up, I feel sick now knowing he's still doing it. There's no law in this country to protect animals, America have Animal Police, we should have something similar to this here where these nasty people get what they deserve.

EGAR

Just as a matter of interest, I am just curious here and am a bit ignorant of what happens in these cases - do the ISPCA have to deal with livestock being mistreated? I've read of many cases of farmers in court due to starving their animals and leaving carcasses on their land, is this more a case for veterinarians and guards or do the ISPCA have to handle these cases too? I can see how 12 inspectors might be a bit overworked .

I don't know how the ISPCA handles cases like that but I always involved the Department Vets in livestock cases (DVO - District Veterinary Office). Most helpful and very handy when the case goes to Court.

Whispered

Well, I volunteered for KSPCA 2 days ago and got no response yet...... perhaps I'm being impatient?

kerrysgold

helena, is that the kerry spca?