Pelican:”It is odd that there are some that assume that if a person shows concern in the arena of animal welfare you must by contrast not care about people.”

It’s weird since the links have been shown between cruelty to animals and children so it must work the other way around as well.

But far as live stock goes we have no worries about packing them up and putting them on boats to be abused horribly at foreign ports.
We lead the world in numbers doing that the last figures I saw. It was mentioned on that movie “Home” as rather unfriendly to the planet as well.

I just want to know what the RSPCA are and what powers they have. I tried to get them to help several times with an animal I watched slowly starve over months and get hurt by other animals it was fenced in with. It eventually died. I thought maybe I’d been calling the wrong crowd and would like to know what I should do if something similar comes up again.

Jewely:

I have had a similar experience, of much greater
propensity, when appealing to the RSPCA to intervene
in the starvation and ultimate deaths of many horses
on a neigbouring property at the height of the recent
drought.

A lot of the horses were mares in foal and were dying
on the ground whilst trying in vain to foal ( due to
emaciation and weakness )....this apparently was an
issue that had occurred many times prior, over a period
of many years, and complaints by various neigbours to
the authorities had failed to gain attention or action!

With this information at hand my wife rang the local
Police Station and asked for advice. The Policeman who
took her call was very concerned and assured her that
he would instigate some rapid action and asked us to
meet him at the subject property later that day.
When the policeman met us at the property, he was
accompanied by an RSPCA officer and the local Vet.

Three or four of the subject horses were standing around,
looking very forlorn. The RSPCA officer then suggested
that my wife and I could obtain some fresh hay and get as
many horses into the yards as possible and advise him
and he would then return, take photos and make a report!
(the local Vet did nothing, except pick his nose!)
I then told the RSPCA officer in no uncertain manner
that we were flat-out buying feed for our own cattle,
which were costing us $100 a day to feed, and that he
should obtain the neccesary hay to acheive the yarding
of the subject animals!
The Policeman appeared dumbfounded, and the Vet seemed
to be dis-interested, and at that point all left the scene!

We heard later that the Policeman received a rollicking,
when the Police Station received a bill for $300 from
the local Vet, and nothing
more occurred with the issue.....We then realised that
what we had been told appeared to be right and that the
whole issue was some sort of a cover-up!

RSPCA....?

That’s bloody awful Crackup. I did some googling, and found they are a Charity and in NSW receive monies in the form of a grant from the Minister of Agriculture.

Probably has the advantage of some awesome tax status as well.

Wiki says:
“RSPCA Inspectors are Special Constables, and often attend prosecutions of animal mutilators and abusers. Being Special Constables means that Australian RSPCA Inspectors are also police officers with full police powers.”

http://www.sosnews.org/rspca/index.php?page=abuse-of-powers
“At RSPCA discretion RSPCA can seize valuable property and sell that property for RSPCA's profit. Not even the Police can do this! RSPCA will abuse, threaten, defame, defraud, intimidate witnesses, fabricate evidence, assault, send nasty threatening letters, steal valuables, seize legally professionally privileged documents, seize evidence denying their victims use of this evidence, .... RSPCA will perjure and fabriacte evidence, RSPCA Veterinarians will fabricate evidence. RSPCA have UNLIMITED and UNSUPERVISED Powers. (given as evidence by Fiona Ferguson LLB in C J Strofield's Magistrate Court Brisbane on 24th November 2008, who holds a delegation under sections 154 and 155 of the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001.) The Crime and Misconduct Commission can not do anything because RSPCA is not a unit of Public Administration (not Public Service Sector, BUT a Private buisiness).”

I’m completely unsurprised and wish I’d never gone looking.

Why do we give the RSPCA any power, let alone police powers? Herd all the RSPCA staff up and make them trained officers in an animal protection branch of the police department.

Aussie has got to stop being so NGO mental.

Jewely:

The situation that I described was in a rural
area of South East Queensland, so maybe the RSPCA
up here are used to dealing in one-eyedness and
corruption, ....as appears to be the case!

Apart from the horses in question,...I felt really
sorry for the Police Constable involved, who by
trying to do the right thing, received a right
royal kick up the backside and was transferred
shortly afterwards,( and was apparently very
well-liked in the local community!).....Just goes
to show that there is no place for a genuine guy
in the Old Boys Club!

Your example Crackup does show the gravitas, or the social ramifications of the notion that "commercial considerations should preside above all else", has upon our society.

The horses oblivious (poor dumb animals), the police constable ostracised and sent to Coventry for his conscience response.

It all stems from "the concept of an acceptable level of cruelty, or control over the extent of cruelty", as a factor in our success formulae. Ruthlessness is revered in management, and placed on a pedestal in the world of business, not dissimilar to pulling the wings off a fly, is it really ?.

Alluding to my earlier point, about murder and the degree depth of human indifference to life: the decisions we make in such instances shape the beings we are. Such things as pulling the wings of a fly, or incinerating one with a magnifying glass, are considered part of the boyhood experience, not necessarily the taking of the life of another complex organism. We justify ourselves by making scientific observations such as "the fly wasn't intelligent enough to feel the pain".

The things we see as acceptable from an early age simply must have some effect in the long run, on the way we view the sanctity of life, (not just human), as the dominant species.

There is a connection between indifference to animal/even insect or plant life, ingrained within us or accepted within us, from an early age, and our subsequent and consequent views on the sanctity of life and its degree's, as we see fit, later.

Whether it be murder or apathy that drives the survival instinct in humankind,
either, may well be the Achilles Heel in our ultimate demise.

I regularly see an AQUIS officer who is rather picky when inspecting peoples' gear yet his own dog is covered by several dozen ticks. Well, not for much longer , it's nearly dead. Why don't I do something about it ? I'd be branded racist & lose my job.