Get involved: Send your news, views, pictures and video by texting SUPIC to 80360 or email us.
2:30pm Friday 12th March 2010 in News By Tim Ridgway
An animal lover said his “blood is boiling” after his cat was put down by the RSPCA - without his knowledge.
John Edwards said his beloved Gizmo had been missing for two weeks when he learned he had been mistaken for a stray and picked up by the animal charity.
The white puss, described as a “fluffy furball”, was put down the same day.
Mr Edwards, of Gloucester Street, Brighton, said: “I am absolutely seething. He always used to go out walking and all the neighbours knew this.
“My other cat, who is a Siamese, is grieving as he knows his mate has gone.
“My blood is boiling and I don’t know when I’ll calm down.”
Gizmo was taken two weeks ago by animal inspectors from the RSPCA but Mr Edwards only found out his cat had been picked up on Monday after leaflets were delivered by concerned residents.
A spokeswoman for RSPCA said they were called to the street by members of the public who said they thought the animal had been involved in a fight.
She added: “We are very sorry for the distress caused to Mr Edwards due to the sad death of his cat.
“Unfortunately the animal was in very bad health, with bad teeth and matted fur. He was covered in fight wounds when concerned residents asked us for help.
“Nor was he identified with a collar or a microchip and so we were unable to trace his owner.
“The RSPCA does everything it can to avoid having to put animals to sleep, but sometimes we have little choice.”
She reminded pet owners to microchip their pets to avoiding similar situations.
Comments(44)
jaygee
says...
5:29pm Fri 12 Mar 10
stan bailey
says...
5:42pm Fri 12 Mar 10
bibble
says...
6:39pm Fri 12 Mar 10
VoiceofUnreason
says...
7:46pm Fri 12 Mar 10
heavenscentrose
says...
7:50pm Fri 12 Mar 10
Lin04
says...
7:58pm Fri 12 Mar 10
VoiceofUnreason
says...
8:09pm Fri 12 Mar 10
heavenscentrose wrote:Trust me...life CAN be fun.Relax.Did you know that if the time of the world were in terms of one year humans appeared at 8.30pm on Dec 31.....put that in yer pipe and smoke it and chill out ffs
It's apparent that the poor cat had bad teeth and wounds from a recent fight. This cannot be grounds enough for the RSPCA to put the cat to sleep on the day they grabbed it. Yes, it had matted hair, but this happens regularly in some long-haired cats and, after the winter, the knots are shed as the new coat comes through. Perhaps some of the mats were caused by the saliva of the animal with which the cat had the fight and this was not necessarily a cat, it could have been a dog, a fox or even a seagull. So, because it was wounded, had bad teeth and matted hair it was sentenced to death. If a street person or other human being were found in this condition, would we say that such a person did not deserve help? No, of course not. So why should a cat, which is a sentient being, not be afforded the chance of treatment? Whether human or animal, the premise is the same. The RSPCA are too judgemental and in this case, did not even try to find the owner of the cat. They could have made local enquiries by knocking on a few doors to see if anyone knew who owned the cat and, as it was well-known in the area, they would have found the owner easily. This would never have happened if the Cats' Protection League had caught the cat and just shows how uncaring the RSPCA can be. I have heard too many horror stories of the bad attitude of the RSPCA and will never donate anything to them as they are well-known to squander the money they have been given following political agendas and lost causes as mentioned in an earlier post. They have even stopped helping people who have little money with veterinary assistance, which, in the past, they used to offer.
heavenscentrose
says...
8:42pm Fri 12 Mar 10
Greyrun
says...
8:50pm Fri 12 Mar 10
Psycho Bob
says...
10:03pm Fri 12 Mar 10
UglyAmerican
says...
11:30pm Fri 12 Mar 10
steveP2009
says...
12:10am Sat 13 Mar 10
uwotuwot
says...
12:19am Sat 13 Mar 10
kayblue
says...
2:19am Sat 13 Mar 10
cheezburger
says...
2:41am Sat 13 Mar 10
Levilee
says...
8:34am Sat 13 Mar 10
Levilee
says...
8:40am Sat 13 Mar 10
cheezburger wrote:So if you don't have your cat chipped your a bad owner!!!!! So I guess your kids are chipped (if not and they go missing your a bad parent)
You people make me sick. Shame on you. The RSPCA do not put healthy animals down, fact! They do not just pick up animals from the street unless they are leary in distress and not being looked after. I suggest this owner didnt care or look after the animal. if he has it would have been chipped anyway.
John Steed
says...
12:54pm Sat 13 Mar 10
merissa
says...
2:15pm Sat 13 Mar 10
Wilftop wrote:y dose every one keep going on bout micrachip,ino this cat wel,gizmo.there was a reason for him not being chiped,lets get that straight.the person that put that lovely cat to death must pay for there actions,they are not a animal lover and must be stoped from doing it to any one elses pet.gizmo is very mist in the area of the northlaines.
why was his cat not wearing a collar or microchipped. I've got three cats and all of them have collars & microchips. It's not that expensive. Plus if they loose the collar they can still trace the cat via a microchip. Clearly his cat can't of been in a healthy state if it's fur was matted, it was covered in fight wounds & had bad teeth. My blood is boiling that this idiot is complaining when he can't look after his cat to ensure it's not got matted fur, covered in fight wounds & it's teeth are in a heathly condition. Take some responsibility if you'd have been a responsible pet owner this wouldn't of happened, so don't go running to the local paper complaining.
KarenT
says...
5:36pm Sat 13 Mar 10
brighton456
says...
8:45pm Sat 13 Mar 10
jonnybrighton
says...
12:16am Sun 14 Mar 10
jonnybrighton
says...
12:32am Sun 14 Mar 10
heavenscentrose wrote:i had to chance gizmo surviveing out there,and he did,he could not possibly be put in a cage,i dont no y but that was the way it was.gizmo has survived for 3 years until casandra white,rspca officer dident even try finding the owner,caged him in a box cause a neighbour reported he was in a fight,took him to the vet and he was amediatly put to sleep.can u imagine wat he went through,no wondour the officer thought he was a vicious wild cat.i will not rest untill cassandra white has the athority taken away from her to put down any one elses pet cause she is whereing a uniform.she killed a special animal in cold blood.
It's apparent that the poor cat had bad teeth and wounds from a recent fight. This cannot be grounds enough for the RSPCA to put the cat to sleep on the day they grabbed it. Yes, it had matted hair, but this happens regularly in some long-haired cats and, after the winter, the knots are shed as the new coat comes through. Perhaps some of the mats were caused by the saliva of the animal with which the cat had the fight and this was not necessarily a cat, it could have been a dog, a fox or even a seagull. So, because it was wounded, had bad teeth and matted hair it was sentenced to death. If a street person or other human being were found in this condition, would we say that such a person did not deserve help? No, of course not. So why should a cat, which is a sentient being, not be afforded the chance of treatment? Whether human or animal, the premise is the same. The RSPCA are too judgemental and in this case, did not even try to find the owner of the cat. They could have made local enquiries by knocking on a few doors to see if anyone knew who owned the cat and, as it was well-known in the area, they would have found the owner easily. This would never have happened if the Cats' Protection League had caught the cat and just shows how uncaring the RSPCA can be. I have heard too many horror stories of the bad attitude of the RSPCA and will never donate anything to them as they are well-known to squander the money they have been given following political agendas and lost causes as mentioned in an earlier post. They have even stopped helping people who have little money with veterinary assistance, which, in the past, they used to offer.
jonnybrighton
says...
1:06am Sun 14 Mar 10
jonnybrighton
says...
1:08am Sun 14 Mar 10
jonnybrighton
says...
1:31am Sun 14 Mar 10
heavenscentrose
says...
3:37am Sun 14 Mar 10
jonnybrighton wrote:Quite agree with you, Jonny. I suffered at the hands of the RSPCA through an interfering neighbour reporting me without understanding anything about my little cat. I rescued him at 4 weeks old with his mum and they were both very ill. She was only 8 when she died, but her little son lived for 12 years. I'm sure that many of us and, more importantly, our little pets, suffer at the hands of the RSPCA, but, hopefully not to the extent of them killing our pets without cause.
the link helps,al makes sense,everyone should look at what the rspca are al about,ur the ones that are putting money into it.
brighton456
says...
7:07pm Sun 14 Mar 10
Levilee
says...
7:17pm Sun 14 Mar 10
brighton456
says...
7:48pm Sun 14 Mar 10
brighton456
says...
10:07pm Sun 14 Mar 10
brighton456
says...
10:27pm Sun 14 Mar 10
queenie1
says...
11:36pm Mon 15 Mar 10
karel
says...
12:03am Tue 16 Mar 10
Big Nasty
says...
8:37am Tue 16 Mar 10
karel wrote:O.K. people I will try to put this in a way which won't be deleted, it is quite simple really!, if people looked after their animals properly there would be no problem, I think there needs to be a debate as to what constitutes a wild animal, as in my opinion if you look at the definition of a wild animal most cats fit that perfectly, I mean people can't have it both ways, if you class your cat as a pet then surely you should know where your pet is so that you can take care of it and assure it doesn't damage other peoples property (for which you should be responsible for), or it is a wild animal (or at the very least feral) in which case have no right to complain if the RSPCA or other such body gets hold of it!.
This is typical RSPCA. I completely agree with Queenie. They are too ready to pts animals that are not seriously ill upon admitting them, without even waiting for the owner to appear. Any animal being admitted by the RSPCA could very well be dead by the next day, that is unless there is a TV crew filming. A multi million charity, which must have the slogan `charity begins at HQ´.
This is not the first time a cat not really missing has been taken off the street by them and instantly slaughtered.
Michael Murray
says...
11:40am Tue 16 Mar 10
Big Nasty
says...
4:19pm Tue 16 Mar 10
Mr Lahey
says...
5:19pm Tue 16 Mar 10
Big Nasty wrote:what a moron.
"Cats are not treated in law as are dogs so therefore, until the necessary legislation is enacted, then cat owners are within their rights to allow them to roam free." In that case we are allowed to deal with any animals on our property causing damage as we see fit!.
heavenscentrose
says...
7:34pm Tue 16 Mar 10
Michael Murray
says...
7:50pm Tue 16 Mar 10
Mr Lahey wrote:Big Nasty professed to be replying, in the first instance, to be bringing a bit of balance to the argument (although not doing so) and now he is being ridiculous. I agree with Mr Lahey that Big Nasty is most definitely a moron.
Big Nasty wrote: "Cats are not treated in law as are dogs so therefore, until the necessary legislation is enacted, then cat owners are within their rights to allow them to roam free." In that case we are allowed to deal with any animals on our property causing damage as we see fit!.what a moron.
Levilee
says...
6:20pm Wed 17 Mar 10
Big Nasty wrote:WONG!!!... one example are seagulls which are a protected bird so 10,000 of them could be living in your garden and eating your roses, and you are still not allowed to deal with them as you see fit as you so put it. With a name like `Big Nasty` it is obvious to everyone here how immature you are. `I am big and nasty` grow up!!!
"Cats are not treated in law as are dogs so therefore, until the necessary legislation is enacted, then cat owners are within their rights to allow them to roam free." In that case we are allowed to deal with any animals on our property causing damage as we see fit!.
Big Nasty
says...
6:49pm Wed 17 Mar 10
Levilee wrote:I had seagulls nesting on my chimney last year!, all I can say is they weren't there long!, and for you information it is my mates that gave me the name Big Nasty, for obvious reasons and it seems to have stuck, so far from being immature it is you that jumps to a conclusion and has to resort to name calling like a little child!.
Big Nasty wrote:WONG!!!... one example are seagulls which are a protected bird so 10,000 of them could be living in your garden and eating your roses, and you are still not allowed to deal with them as you see fit as you so put it. With a name like `Big Nasty` it is obvious to everyone here how immature you are. `I am big and nasty` grow up!!!
"Cats are not treated in law as are dogs so therefore, until the necessary legislation is enacted, then cat owners are within their rights to allow them to roam free." In that case we are allowed to deal with any animals on our property causing damage as we see fit!.
Juliet22
says...
4:14pm Sun 21 Mar 10
Search for Jobs in Brighton, Hove, Lewes, Worthing, Crawley and more...
Search Now »
Find the right person in Brighton, Hove, Lewes, Worthing, Crawley...
Search Now »
Search for Homes in Brighton, Worthing, Hove, Lewes...
Search Now »
Search for Cars in Brighton, Hove, Lewes, Worthing, Crawley...
Search Now »
Wilftop says...
4:10pm Fri 12 Mar 10