How do you define "animal cruelty"?

Discodog

As I have already said Veterinary evidence is usually required to get a conviction. As with any other form of abuse there are degrees & at the end of the day a Court has the task of deciding whether an act constituted cruelty.

In reality the chances of being prosecuted in Ireland are very low. In the UK the majority of the population will report any cruelty & the RSPCA will act with police support.

Not every dog can be saved but, based on the performance of all the other rescues, the ISPCA should be saving many more than they are now.

Shivers26

My sister and a friend have had several run ins with the DSPCA when they tried to report people for animal cruelty. Basically they were told as long as there was food and water and some class of shelter then there was nothing they could do. They basically didn't care if a dog was never walked, brought inside, cleaned, saw a vet or was left living in its own filth in all class of weather.

I have 3 rescue dogs and the middle one was rescued from a puppy farm (ex breeding bitch) - I know its really common but if you saw the state of her when I got her :mad: Hardly any coat due to hormone deficiency from being forced to have litter after litter, her under carriage nearly scraping the ground, eyes barely opened due to infections that were never treated, stomach and digestion problems caused by god knows what, she'd panic pee if anyone tried to touch her. You'd have to wonder what she went through to be like that. She still struggles to be a 'pet' so to speak but she has come on great. Most of her health issues are much improved or resolved altogether. I'll try and put up some before and after pictures.

Also wish we could get through one year without hearing about the disgusting acts carried out by little evil scumbags with animals and fireworks, especially around Halloween.

emmabrighton

my two cents...

I think that the definition of cruelty really depends on the personality of your animal... I have a dog who is very needy and clingy and my partner is always playing rough with him to the point where he screams to get away but the moment he lets him go hes straight back over for another go... turns out he is screaming with excitement and is just playing... I, on the other hand, would never play rough with him because I think its cruel.

But like in most relationships I can have blazing rows with my OH from time to time. You can tell these really affect the dog cos he will hide under the stairs until the argument is over... I think that this is cruel and always feel awful afterwards - for the dog, that is! Not the fella :pac:

I think that if your animal husbandry is 100% and he gets plenty of play time, then it is still possible to to cause anguish in other ways... just my opinion

ppink

Shivers26 wrote: »

My sister and a friend have had several run ins with the DSPCA when they tried to report people for animal cruelty. Basically they were told as long as there was food and water and some class of shelter then there was nothing they could do. They basically didn't care if a dog was never walked, brought inside, cleaned, saw a vet or was left living in its own filth in all class of weather.

it is our laws that do not allow them to do anything about these situations. the law makes no provision for interaction walking etc.

Discodog

Shivers26 wrote: »

My sister and a friend have had several run ins with the DSPCA when they tried to report people for animal cruelty. Basically they were told as long as there was food and water and some class of shelter then there was nothing they could do. They basically didn't care if a dog was never walked, brought inside, cleaned, saw a vet or was left living in its own filth in all class of weather.

This is common for all SPCA's & the ISPCA. It stems from the misguided idea that they can't prosecute for neglect under the old 1911 Act & that they are waiting for an Animal Welfare Bill. Until quite recently the same old law applied in the UK & it did hinder prosecutions but certainly didn't prevent them. When adjusted for the size of the populations the RSPCA prosecute well over six times as many people as the ISPCA.

The RSPCA will always attend an incident such as you describe & they discuss the matter with the owner. In most cases this is enough to make them improve the conditions. But, if not, then they will get a Vet to assess the situation & they will prosecute. The ISPCA's & SPCA's are moulded to view that there is nothing that they can do in these cases - they accept defeat very easily.

But in their defence they have to prioritise calls due to their dreadful lack of resources & in some cases mismanagement. Unlike the ISPCA the RSPCA receives no government funding. Per person the UK public donate a huge amount more to animal charities than people here. To put it into perspective the Dogs Trust alone, which is one of many animal charities, received £60m in public donations during 2010.

ppink wrote: »

it is our laws that do not allow them to do anything about these situations. the law makes no provision for interaction walking etc.

It does providing that a Vet will testify that the animal is suffering as a result.