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Brighton man furious after RSPCA put down his cat

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)

Wilftop says...
4:10pm Fri 12 Mar 10

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.

jaygee says...
5:29pm Fri 12 Mar 10

i stopped supporting the rspca many years ago because they are too quick to put down animals.all they are interested in is raising money for political aims.and recently even going to court to try to overturn a request of money that was going to be given to them and then changed.the bill for the court fight was a quarter of a million pounds and that is where your donations are going.i give my money to a local animal charity that truly cares for animals.its about time the queen took away the royal part of this so called caring association.

stan bailey says...
5:42pm Fri 12 Mar 10

I remember Wingshaven

bibble says...
6:39pm Fri 12 Mar 10

I see the RSPCA is blaming the owner. Did the RSPCA have to put the cat down the same day they stole it?

VoiceofUnreason says...
7:46pm Fri 12 Mar 10

Sh1t 'appens...move on geezer

heavenscentrose says...
7:50pm Fri 12 Mar 10

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.

Lin04 says...
7:58pm Fri 12 Mar 10

Well done to the RSPCA.
The cat was suffering.
Why waste money keeping these killing machines alive..
Too many of them , messing in peoples gardens and killing any wildlife around.
If people want a cat , they should keep it indoors or on a lead in their own gardens.

VoiceofUnreason says...
8:09pm Fri 12 Mar 10

heavenscentrose wrote:
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.
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

heavenscentrose says...
8:42pm Fri 12 Mar 10

To: VoiceofUnreason

I know that life can be and IS fun.

Regarding the rest of your post: and your point is...?

I think your pseudonim says a lot about your view of life!

Greyrun says...
8:50pm Fri 12 Mar 10

Through past experience i treat this organisation with a great deal of scepticism.

Psycho Bob says...
10:03pm Fri 12 Mar 10

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.
.
Well nothing new there then at the RSPCA.
.
beep beep

UglyAmerican says...
11:30pm Fri 12 Mar 10

What, couldn't come up with a recipe everyone could agree on?

steveP2009 says...
12:10am Sat 13 Mar 10

The RSPCA take in 1000's animals each year. they are self funded and cannot hold on to all the animals careless owners loose. During the winter and the bad financial climate they have even more animals given to them. I know people who volunteer for them and they do the best they can with the support they get. If they run out of room they cannnot hold on to the animals. If yuou care so much give them some money to build extra facilities. Or even better, look after your animal and chip them. if you can be bothered don't gte a pet al ALL.

uwotuwot says...
12:19am Sat 13 Mar 10

with any cases of injustice like this you can contact a group called the http://the-shg.org/, they know all your rights and the legal stuff, i wouldn't want my animals microchiped after seeing the results of some of the studies that have been done, 1 in 10 animals seem to be suffering from cancerous lumps around the area of the chips. my animals are tattooed, it's allot safer.

kayblue says...
2:19am Sat 13 Mar 10

People, please re-read the article! The cat was picked up TWO WEEKS AGO and was put down on the same day that Mr. Edwards found out that the RSPCA had Gizmo. Also, did he not notice that the cat was missing? Did he go looking for Gizmo? If so, where was he looking? Did he think of checking with the RSPCA? If all his neighbours knew Gizmo, why didn't they contact Mr. Edwards when they saw that Gizmo had been in a fight? Wy contact the RSPCA? There's only one person responsible for the death of Gizmo, and it isn't the RSPCA!

cheezburger says...
2:41am Sat 13 Mar 10

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.

Levilee says...
8:34am Sat 13 Mar 10

I knew this cat and he did not have bad teeth. He was only 2 years old and Johns other cat is a lot older and his teeth are fine. The RSPCA are making that up to cover there self, because no one can check now the cats gone. Gizmo was a really fluffy cat that has to be groomed everyday but as he was missing over a week he was overdue a good brush. John is a big cat/animal lover and is upset about his loss. Keep your chin up mate. Lee

Levilee says...
8:40am Sat 13 Mar 10

cheezburger wrote:
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.
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)
THE RSPCA KILL ANIMALS TO QUICK!!

John Steed says...
12:54pm Sat 13 Mar 10

RSPCA, its difficult to hear a good word said about them these days,
a suggestion, Disbanded, Closed, these self appointed animal police are out of touch, and simply an out of order bunch of hypocrites, why should they educate and care when they can simply prosecute. worse still in this case act as judge jury and executioners
The very idea that a cat can be stolen off the street and killed by a so called caring animal charity the same day is abhorrent, they should be prosecuted for what is blatently a criminal act, The "Royal" should be stripped from their title.

Chipping is a great idea but as yet not madatory but obviously a very sensible idea, most cats have collars and yes they do come off, if they didnt we would have strangled cats.

merissa says...
2:15pm Sat 13 Mar 10

Wilftop wrote:
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.
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.

KarenT says...
5:36pm Sat 13 Mar 10

Anyone who has a cat that is given outside access should have it microchipped, end of. Anything short of that is just irresponsible.

brighton456 says...
8:45pm Sat 13 Mar 10

I think it is absolutely ridiculous that some of you people have the cheek to say the rspca were right to do this to such a friendly, healthy cat- and anyone who still supports them are clearly idiots, the rspca have been KNOWN to do this for OVER 20 years! There are plenty of other animal charities that deserve/need the money much more, and would put it to better use, the person who's saying that we shoud 'give them more money to build extra facilities' is very clearly mistaken, the money that gets donated to the rscpa only goes towards killing other animals. Microchipped? Sorry I forgot money isn't an issue. To say that this man is an 'irresponsible' owner is laughable, everyone knows cats (tom cats especially) will go for a wander to find a mate. I'm not sure what kind of special cat YOU have but in my experiance most cats WONT LET you sit there and brush them. Rspca should be long gone by now, and I am outraged that this has happened to ANOTHER healthy, innocent animal. Rip.

jonnybrighton says...
12:16am Sun 14 Mar 10

wel now ive heard ur comments,hope ur reading mine,im john,we have a few mixed comments tonight.thanckyou to al the support and advice,were not menion the small minded.im going to tell u my side and id like to here ur comments bk.gizmo,healthy 3 year old cat,proper tom he was,i remember his first steps,trying to get out cat flap,wen he learnt that,he worked to get over the wall of garden,into his little world,all the gds from gloucester st to pelham sq,sydney st,st gourges mews,lots of people would of come across him,big fluffy white cat with black bushy tail.he was a nervous cat,very weiry of people,but people been tellimng me how they mite have there special way with him,he was wel known,but they diddent no who he belonged to,diddent matter.im just letting u al no what a popular cat he was in his own way.thank u for the lady from the ocean flat who called me this morn,she is devistated that the rspca put the cat down as she fought gizmo was a stray and did put a few leaflets out few months ago to find if anyone owned him,unfortanatly did not reach me.she did not expect them to do wat they done.who can beleive it.alay with the pdsa ot of people gone on bout chip and coller,gizmo,anyone who new him wil tel u,he was a very nervous cat,in his breeed,so nervous it was impossible to get him in a box to have any kind of treatment,he would freik out,foam at the mouth,go wild,crazy.i was working out aw

jonnybrighton says...
12:32am Sun 14 Mar 10

heavenscentrose wrote:
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.
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.

jonnybrighton says...
1:06am Sun 14 Mar 10

thanks for the link,il use it,every one should look at wat the rspca are doing to our animals.cassandra white,rspca officer,i wil not rest til justice is done

jonnybrighton says...
1:08am Sun 14 Mar 10

anybody with anymore help would b appriciated

jonnybrighton says...
1:31am Sun 14 Mar 10

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.

heavenscentrose says...
3:37am Sun 14 Mar 10

jonnybrighton wrote:
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.
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.

My thoughts are with you for your sad loss.

Take care.

brighton456 says...
7:07pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Maybe your friends cats are happy but surely this is just because they don't know any better? I just think its wrong that your basically saying the rspca were right to do this because gizmo was in another garden and wasn't microchipped. Anyone who is blaming john is also wrong in my opinion, but those of you who are saying the cat deserved this are sick, as he did nothing other than be a curious cat who was used to having freedom.

Levilee says...
7:17pm Sun 14 Mar 10

I think humans are the biggest menace around here. You being one of them by your stupid post. CATS STAY OUT OF MY GARDEN OR ELSE!!!.... OH WHAT A BIG MAN YOU SOUND LIKE. IDIOT!!!!

brighton456 says...
7:48pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Why the **** has this turned into you moaning about cats weeing in your garden??? A VERY LOVED animal was KILLED for no reason, no one gives a **** about your bloody roses!

brighton456 says...
10:07pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Don't f#cking comment on the post then. Wanted a moan? Wanted an argument? Go and tend to your roses

brighton456 says...
10:27pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Ok, uneducated? And selfish! Hahah, seems YOUR the selfish one, who is definitely just looking for an argument! Have some bloody respect. Do you not care that someone has lost their animal that they loved very much- says alot about the kind of person you are. Caring, considerate..pretty lovely by the sounds of things!

queenie1 says...
11:36pm Mon 15 Mar 10

To Cheezburger, the RSPCA do kill healthy animals all the time. Even dogs who have been in kennels 'too long', though they won't specify what 'too long' is. Regardless of age or health, they kill one in every three dogs they get, and even more cats!
They even have a noise counter and take out the noisiest dogs and kill them. The RSPCA is not the benevolent Society it wants the public to believe it is. It's the richest animal charity in Britain, it kills the most animals, and all the money goes to HQ, not to its shelters. They have to raise their own funds and pay HQ to use the rspca logo.

karel says...
12:03am Tue 16 Mar 10

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.

Big Nasty says...
8:37am Tue 16 Mar 10

karel wrote:
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.
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!.
Please Jo Wadsworth don't delete this comment, we need a two sided debate on this issue, WHY DO SOME CAT OWNERS THINK IT IS ACCEPTABLE JUST TO LET THEIR ANIMALS WANDER THE STREETS WITHOUT ANY CONTROL SO THE CATS CAN KILL ANYTHING THEY WANT, DAMAGE PEOPLES PROPERTY AND GO TO THE TOILET IN OTHER PEOPLES GARDENS!!!!!, this does not happen with any other pet, so why make an exception for cats.

Michael Murray says...
11:40am Tue 16 Mar 10

In answer to Big Nasty - your comment does not bring any balance to the argument about whether the RSPCA is right in destroying a cat on a pretext that it was beyond help. As they are purported to be "animal experts", authorities take their opinion as beyond reproach. Now questions are being asked of their peculiar attitude towards animals inasmuch that they kill them the day they take them in from the street. This is NOT what the general public donate money to them - who are under the impression that they take in animals and try to find them homes albeit within a timescale of 7 days (usually). Therefore aren't they taking these donations under false pretences? I would suggest they are. If they had taken my cat from my road and destroyed it within a day I would look into taking legal action against them for not being reasonable in their behaviour.
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.

Big Nasty says...
4:19pm Tue 16 Mar 10

"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!.

Mr Lahey says...
5:19pm Tue 16 Mar 10

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.

heavenscentrose says...
7:34pm Tue 16 Mar 10

To BigNasty

So if we find a drunk going to the toilet in our garden, do you think that we can deal with them as we see fit? But, oh, I forgot you are a bouncer so I suppose you think you can take the law into your hands and do what the devil you want.

Michael Murray says...
7:50pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Mr Lahey wrote:
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.
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.

Levilee says...
6:20pm Wed 17 Mar 10

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!.
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!!!

Big Nasty says...
6:49pm Wed 17 Mar 10

Levilee wrote:
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!.
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!!!
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!.

Juliet22 says...
4:14pm Sun 21 Mar 10

How sad is this. Cats roam about. No need to kill an animal just becaused its not micro-chipped.

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