This is the best comment the RSPCA warrant. Mony grabbing with zero morale compus whatever. Facilities only available when suits them - never any thoughts for animals that need their help or supp... See more
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Reporting a 9 week old puppy that is left outside, not sure if they have food or water, temperatures have been really hot, the puppy is constantly crying all different times of day as always outside,... See more
Reported dog that had been left alone in house since monday July 22nd due to elderly owner taken into hospital, 3 days later and nobody has been out to rescue it...also they will not give updates on t... See more
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Crap charity. DO NOT DONATE TO THEM! I've tried for 4 weeks to get an answer from their online chat reporting service to always be met with being informed of no advisors being available. When I did ge... See more
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Company details
Written by the company
At the RSPCA, we’re proud to be there for every kind— from pets in need to wild animals who need urgent care. Every day, our dedicated teams work tirelessly to protect animals, prevent cruelty, and offer hope in situations that are often distressing and complex. As a charity, we face difficult decisions about how to use our limited resources, and we must prioritise the most urgent and serious cases of abuse or neglect. This sometimes means we can’t attend every call, no matter how much we wish we could. When we’re unable to be there in person, we’ll help in other ways—offering you support, directing you to organisations that can help fast, and, when it’s safe, empowering you to take an animal to a vet. These shared efforts truly make a difference. We’re incredibly grateful for the kindness, patience, and support shown by the public. Together, we can continue to speak up for animals, protect those in need, and build a better world for every kind.
Contact info
United Kingdom
- www.rspca.org.uk
2.0
Poor
2K reviews
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Replied to 91% of negative reviews
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“A complete bunch of charlatans.
“A complete bunch of charlatans! If they could make more money by selling white goods I'm sure they would change overnight.
We fostered a seized family dog under a legal agreement. She was delivered to us underweight, poor coat condition and suffering from a throat wound which she sustained whilst in their care. The day after her arrival the wound was swollen to the size of a golf ball, and upon draining, yielded just over 30ml fluid. When we informed the rspca of her spaying operation and that further information would be available in some 5 days after her next check up, an inspector phoned a couple of hours later for an update! We never heard from them again even after the 5 days had passed
May 14, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Steve,
Thank you for your review. I’m very sorry to read how disappointed you are in the support and communication you have received from the RSPCA regarding the dog you’ve fostered.
We’d really like to look into this for you. Please do fill in our complaints form so that we can gather more details to understand the situation and take appropriate action. You can find the complaints form here:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
We hope to hear from you soon
With best wishes
Emma
No compassion no empathy this ‘charity’…
No compassion no empathy this ‘charity’ needs to be investigated for money laundering and deception . Reported 5 abandoned cats last week as a resident down the road moved out . None are spayed or neutered, no microchips , flies and worms and scabs and 1 cat is pregnant again expecting a second litter within 3 months since the last . Owner was already neglecting cats by not feeding them now she’s left the poor cats have nothing but streets and rspca workers visited the area and told residents they only take in injured cats . So RSPCA you can now expect a further 5 stray cats on the streets of London and no doubt if one gets injured you’ll have to take them in and treat them and throw your excuses in the bin . Such a shameful charity with poor staff
October 3, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Kt
We're sorry to read your feedback about your experience with the RSPCA. Could you please fill out our website's complaints form so that we can look into this for you. It can be found at:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
We hope to hear from you soon so that we may look into this for you.
Best wishes
Emma
Today a swan was deliberately ran over…
Today a swan was deliberately ran over by a car, both wheels driving over it. The driver was stopped by a witness, the drivers response was "not my problem" The people who were caring for the injured swan that has a suspected broken neck contacted the RSPCA for help. Funnily enough your response was not our problem. Well I informed the police and they taking it seriously and are investigating it as a wildlife crime. Are you nterested now?? Maybe there's a photo op 😉 Crime reference number 44250451066
October 5, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Sarah,
I’m sorry to hear you have a complaint about the response received by the RSPCA and I’m saddened to hear about the swan being hit by a car
If people aren’t satisfied with the service they receive from the RSPCA, we ask them to contact us straight away by filling out the complaints form on our website so we can look into it for them. You can find our complaints form here:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
I’d like to reassure you that the RSPCA is a learning organisation and we treat complaints seriously because they’re an opportunity to learn from any mistakes we've made and to help us improve our services. Our national complaints procedure is on this page of our website:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints
With best wishes
Emma
I have been reporting the condition lf…
I have been reporting the condition of that dog for a year!
I sent so many emails with videos and photos as required, and you did nothing.
And now you tell me that you can no do anything with my complaint because it happened 2 years ago. Well, not surprised it after a whole year nobody did anything.
October 2, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Beatriz
As we mentioned, our Service Complaints Team wouldn't be able to look into a complaint about something reported to the RSPCA two years ago. Inspectors are in a different team and we don't know what would have been done about a report you made back then, so we can't say.
Although it sounds as though this all happened two years ago, if you have current concerns for the dog and how it's living, please get in touch either by phoning or going on web chat. The details of how to do that can be found on this page of the website:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/reportaconcern
Kind regards
Emma
Dreadful organisation not fit for purpose
Dreadful organisation. I doubt anyone should actually donate a penny. Donate it to another Trust that works.
I can understand that they are busy we calls and other issues. However, I and one of neighbour reported what's considered a high priority incident that was caught on cctv.
This particular person is another neighbour that lives above me. We have evidence that he kicked his dog outside the main communal door making it scream and twice again outside his own door, making it scream twice.
We mentioned that this individual has a history of violance, heavy Class A drug abuse. He's been arrested for antisocial behaviour, violence, assaulting a police officer, 11 months in prison for drug offences such as selling from the property
THEY SENT A SINGLE OFFICER!, obviously the offender was not in at the time. The officer left a note, I don't know what he put in the note but it was enough to gain attention to the Cctv in the communal passage way indicating that the offender suspect knowing who made the report.
They've not only put those reporting the incident but also putting the dogs life at risk. This is very shameful of the rspca.
We are now waiting for a email back, we haven't got a response back but we're going to follow thus up at the end of the week.
I want to note after the officer turned up the same day of the incident after sending the 3 footages they did come out the same day which is only GOOD thing they did, however, that was is it. They haven't been back since.
Although we're trying to do this legally hoping you are investigating the footage, getting court Warrent and possibly involving police. We would appreciate some kind of response.
Otherwise we may take this further ourselves by passing the footage to the local press and ensuring they get the full aftermath of the story of how RSPCA are neglectimg their moral duty along with placing the video on social media and how RSPCA handled it.
No doubt after the release of the video questions will be asked about the RSPCA's involvement and they handled it. Possibly gaining the attention from people who will end up taking things into their own hands as he's quite familiar in the area and seen a lot to buy his drugs, so they recognise his face and HIS DOG.
So I think you guys should be looking on how you train your staff and seriously should be paying attention to this review board as it doesn't look good that the RSPCA who is supposed to be saving animal lives are actually putting them at risk.
September 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hello Mark
I’m sorry to read you have concerns about an officer’s actions in relation to a dog you reported. I’m not clear if you’ve already contacted the Service Complaints Team or a different team. If you haven’t already made a complaint, please fill out the website’s form here:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
If the Service Complaints Team has already acknowledged a complaint from you and you're waiting for a reply, please respond to its acknowledgement asking for an update if it's already gone past the time you were told a reply would be sent to you.
Thanks for your concern about the dog and seeking help for it.
Best wishes
Sarah
There not bothered about animals!
There not bothered about animals!
The only thing there interested in is making money
September 30, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi
Thank you for your feedback, we are sorry to hear that you feel the RSPCA does not help animals.
We would like to reassure you that we don't make any money out of rescuing animals in need. It costs around £150 million every year to run all of the services we offer to animals and members of the public.
As a registered charity (with no shareholders) all money is ploughed back into the day to day costs. The way we operate is regulated by the Charity Commission.
We only exist with the support of generous donations from the public. They enable our inspectors to continue rescuing animals from unimaginable cruelty, neglect and injury, it means we can continue to provide our national cruelty and advice line for concerned members of the public to report an animal in distress to us and provides the funds required to keep our animal centres and hospitals running where distressed animals are brought to receive specialised care and treatment whilst they wait for their forever home.
Please note that the majority of the money donated to us goes directly towards the animals in our care. With every £1 given to us, 78p is spent on animal welfare, 2p is spent on governance and 20p is spent on raising the next £1.
Unfortunately, as a charity we’re incredibly limited in terms of resources - we have fewer than 350 officers covering the entire of England and Wales, and we simply can't help every single animal when there's a call coming in every 32 seconds to our cruelty line. We try our very best, and it breaks our hearts to know that we can't be everywhere we need to be, all of the time.
But, in 2024 we were able to deal with 289,812 animal welfare incidents, rehomed 24,483 animals, convicted 527 people who deliberately harmed or neglected animals and returned 5,989 injured or orphaned animals to the wild after care in our centres, so we're always extremely busy in trying to create a better world for every animal.
With best wishes,
Emma
RSPCA - communication isn’t their strong point
Trying to get in contact with a real person is virtually impossible as the website just passes you from virtual assistant to a telephone message that then cuts you off. This automated service they provide is unworkable and frustrating. Be more user friendly and make contacting a real person quicker and easier when the options you do provide don’t cover the enquiry.
September 3, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hello Craig
Sorry to hear you had difficulty contacting us. There are so many possibilities here about what might have happened that it would be hard to list them all. In general terms, the virtual assistant helps answer people’s questions, but if what they type looks to be a concern that needs reporting to a live web agent, it tries transferring them to one or offers a telephone number to contact our National Control Centre.
Like all large organisations, we have a voice response system giving callers options to press according to what they’re ringing about. Depending on what they press, they may either be routed to a call handler or to a recorded message giving helpful information.
This system has been refined over the years to try and help people as quickly as possible in the most appropriate way and we’re constantly reviewing it to see how else we can make improvements.
Best wishes
Emma
My partner called to report a kitten…
My partner called to report a kitten being neglected, this kitten is kept in a neighbouring garden sometimes all day, rain or shine and sometimes over night in cold temperatures, the kitten is constantly meowing to be let in, the owner is a known alcoholic that has no intrest in looking after this poor kitten, I have only been able to get close to the kitten once and it was covered in fleas, unfortunately when reported to the RSPCA the call handler was uninterest,he said cats have a right to roam and this is not neglect, leaving a distressed cat outside for long periods during bad weather equates to neglect in my book, we were told that all their officers are extremely busy no doubt a tactic to get us to donate to them but after this experience I will never support the RSPCA. We plan either confronting the neighbour directly now or take matters into our own hands and take the kitten in ourselves or surrender it as a stray in a hope it will have a better life.
September 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Matt,
Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear that you were disappointed after your partner called us about a kitten you have concerns for.
As a charity, we have limited resources, so it would be impossible for us to help all animals all of the time, as soon as they need us. We try our very best, but with a call coming in every 30 seconds, and only a few hundred animal rescuers covering the entirety of England and Wales, sadly some people feel let down by us. Additionally, we are restricted by the law - we can only take action if animal welfare laws are broken, even if we don't necessarily agree with the way an animal is being kept.
However, I would like to reassure you that this is not how we want it to be - we're all at the RSPCA because we care about animals, and it breaks our hearts to know that we can't help all the animals in need.
Our services are under huge demand and in 2024, our emergency line took in 907,797 calls to our cruelty and advice line – one call every 32 seconds. We have 330 frontline officers covering England and Wales, so unfortunately we’re unable to respond to every call and must prioritise cases of cruelty and neglect.
We encourage people who have complaints after they’ve contacted the RSPCA to get in touch with us straight away by filling out the complaints form on our website (the link is below) so we can look into it for them. The RSPCA is a learning organisation and we treat complaints seriously because they’re an opportunity to learn from any mistakes we've made and to help us improve our services. Our national complaints procedure is on this page of our website:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints
and the complaints form is here:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
As your partner was the person who spoke with an RSPCA call handler, if she has a complaint about how her call was handled please do encourage her to get in touch with us using the form above so that her call can be listened to.
With best wishes,
Emma
Absolutely awful
Absolutely awful, they have lost their values, people please stop donating to these people because they never help animals in need
Id like to also add to this person Emma who gave the link to complaint, the link doesn't work, I tried submitting complaints, even your complaint page is broken.
September 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Sinta,
Thank you for your feedback and we’re sorry to hear that you experienced difficulties submitting a complaint on our form.
We can confirm that our complaints form is working but if you are still experiencing troubles submitting your complaint please copy the below link into a different web browser and try again:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
I’m also sorry that you feel we are not supporting animals in need. I would like to share some statistics which show the expansive work the RSPCA has achieved within 2024 and hope this reassures you that we continue to help as many animals as we can:
- We received 907,797 calls to our National Control Centre
- Our officers dealt with 82,490 welfare incidents
- 31,129 welfare notices and advice were given out by our officers advising people that their animals' care needed improvement
- RSPCA centres took into their care 47,966 animals
- 10,094 wild animals were admitted to our wildlife centres
- 41,950 animals were neutered
- 33,147 animals were microchipped
- 79,438 treatments were dispensed (excluding neutering)
- We secured 860 convictions in the magistrates courts and 240 convictions in the Crown courts.
Thank you again for getting in touch
With best wishes,
Emma
Money comes first.
I am writing to complain to whoever writes the responses from the RSPCA to comments from trustpilots reviewers. I have never read so much condescending rubbish in all of my life. The RSPCA is now well known for not helping animals in need, just read all of the one star reviews to understand that. The RSPCA along with hundreds of other charities are not fit for purpose and it is basically more concerned about money than the welfare of animals. I personally have contacted the RSPCA on numerous occasions over the years and never once did they come to the aid of the animal I called in about. The RSPCA just say "we are not in a position to help on this occasion."
Waste of time. Like I said earlier it is money before animals welfare.
September 26, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Sonny Keith
It’s disappointing to hear our replies come across to you as condescending as that’s certainly not how we intend or want them to. We try our best to answer people’s concerns by providing the most relevant information.
As much as we’d love to help every single animal that’s reported to us, sadly we just don't have the resources to do that. We receive a call every 32 seconds but have only around 350 officers spread across England and Wales. So, I’m afraid we can’t respond to all the calls and can only send officers to the animals in greatest need because we must prioritise reports carefully and are constantly having to make difficult decisions.
We rescue, rehabilitate and rehome some of the most needy animals and last year the officers dealt with 82,490 welfare incidents. They gave out 31,129 welfare notices advising owners they needed to improve their animals’ welfare. Thanks to our officers’ work, in 2024 we were able to secure 860 convictions in the magistrates’ courts and 240 convictions in the Crown courts.
If you report concern for an animal to the RSPCA in future and don’t feel we deal with it in the way you’d hope, please fill out our website’s complaints form so we can check and reply to you.
When it comes to fundraising, for every £1 given to us, 78p is spent on animal welfare, 2p is spent on governance and 20p is spent on raising the next £1, which is essential to keep the RSPCA going.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sarah
Countless let downs from a business claiming to be a charity
Countless let downs from a business, not a charity. Called along side, half the town, multiple times about a baby cob pony tethered on council grassland. Man had bought a baby cob for his 4 year old with no experience what so ever about horses. We walked our dog everyday past poor horse and noticed its water bucked and feed bucket were seldom ever full, they lay kicked over in one place for days at a time. Horse had visible ribs showing and no hay. People all over constantly rang about this neglected pony and not once did the RSPCA come out. Instead telling us ''we don't deal with horses'' Umm.. yes you do. Great when there's a camera crew on them but in real life, not bothered. But carpark is full of sports cars of their high ups. A sham of a 'charity'
September 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Ash,
Thank you for your review. We’re very sorry to hear that you’re disappointed after calling the RSPCA about a horse that you’re concerned about.
Every year the RSPCA is involved in a huge amount of work to help horses throughout England and Wales, with hundreds of horses being rescued, rehabilitated and finally rehomed.
We’d really like to look into how your call about the horse was handled so please do fill in our complaints form so that we may listen to your call. The complaint form can be found here:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
Please be assured that the RSPCA isn't a business and is a registered charity (charity number 219099) which is funded by generous donations from members of the public.
I’d like to share some statistics which show the extent of our work carried out during 2024 which was made possible by these donations:
-We received 907,797 calls to our National Control Centre
-Our officers dealt with 82,490 welfare incidents
-31,129 welfare notices and advice were given out by our officers advising people that their animals' care needed improvement
-RSPCA centres took into their care 47,966 animals
-10,094 wild animals were admitted to our wildlife centres
-41,950 animals were neutered
-33,147 animals were microchipped
-79,438 treatments were dispensed (excluding neutering)
-We secured 860 convictions in the magistrates courts and 240 convictions in the Crown courts.
We hope to hear from you so that we may look into your call
With best wishes
Emma
what a wasted space organisation
found an injured animal , so contacted the RSPCA for help. Received no help at all, both by phone(I was cut off) and on line. Spent nearly 20 minutes negotiating their website.
So much for their "we care for animals" adverts.
Thank goodness for a private vet who stepped in after 8 hours of trying to get help.
September 13, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi David,
Thank you for your kindness and compassion in seeking help for the animal. I’m very sorry that you were not able to receive help from the RSPCA but I’m pleased to hear that you were able to find a local vet that could provide support.
So that we may look into why your call was cut off, please do get in touch with us by filling out the complaints form on our website:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
We hope to hear from you soon so that we can look into this for you.
With best wishes
Emma
RSPCA East Dorset- Freda is a star
A couple of weeks ago I called the RSPCA East Dorset and spoke on two occasions to a kind lady called Freda. I was desperate as my 15 year old cat needed an x- ray and I simply did not have £385 to cover the cost.
Freda listened and reassured me, she told me to make the appointment with the vets and she would sort out the payment. I cannot thank her enough for her kindness, she was amazing, thank you Freda, it was a very stressful time and heart wrenching not knowing who to turn too
September 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Thank you, Shel, for leaving a lovely review.
We’re so glad to hear that the Poole, East Dorset & South Wiltshire Branch was able to help you during a stressful time you had with your cat. Across England and Wales there are 135 RSPCA branches and you can read about them here:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/whoweare/branches
Best wishes
Emma
RSPCA overstepping legal remit
I found a sick, injured and neglected dog tied to a post in woods whilst on holiday. No one around. I took the dog and called the RSPCA asking where to take it for treatment as I didn't know the area and said I would pay. They refused to tell me where to take it, said I could be accused of theft and to put the dog back and they would send inspectors. Stupidly I believed them. No inspectors came but whilst walking back to the woods along a secluded lane alone (female, 5'1"", 7.5 stone) a truck pulled up. Huge man and woman confronted me. Said it was their dog but woman asked if I wanted it. I didn't have any money. She suggested my Sketchers but the size was too small. I had to leave the dog with them. The RSPCA never came. They prevented me from helping the dog and put me at risk. The RSPCA oversteps their remit. They had no legal right to suggest I had committed theft without knowing the facts. I had not, because the dog was alone, on public land with no owner or property in sight, in need of medical attention. Legally it was abandoned. They had no legal right to tell me to return the dog and in by doing so, put me and the dog in the path of dangerous people. They overplay their power to protect themselves and they break the law and cause neglect. As soon as they wouldn't tell me where to take her, I should of hung up and found a vets another way. That poor, poor dog.
August 12, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Dear SD
It was clearly distressing for you to find a sick and injured dog in the woods, so thank you for wanting to help it.
If our call centre said an inspector was going be sent out, then it would have scheduled for one to attend as soon as possible. However, we have only around 350 officers across England and Wales and receive about a million calls a year plus many thousands of online reports of animal welfare concern. The officers deal with as many of these as possible as quickly as they can but with their heavy workloads they can take longer to get to a location than they or we would like.
We have to strictly prioritise their jobs according to urgency and it sounds as though they already had lots of urgent jobs lined up when you contacted the call centre.
If you’d like us to look into how your call was handled please fill out our website’s complaints form at:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
Once again, thank you for caring about the dog. I'm sorry that you feel let down by us and can only say that we do our very best to get to animals as quickly as we can.
Best wishes
Emma
Should be no stars
Should be no stars, just called about welfare of a dog, they are not interested as usual, what is the point of them, all they do is ask for money?????
Website is terrible too.
September 12, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Badger,
I’m sorry to hear how disappointed you are with your contact with the RSPCA after speaking with us about a dog you’re concerned for.
We encourage people who have complaints after they’ve contacted the RSPCA to get in touch with us straight away by filling out the complaints form on our website (the link is below) so we can look into it for them. The RSPCA is a learning organisation and we treat complaints seriously because they’re an opportunity to learn from any mistakes we've made and to help us improve our services. Our national complaints procedure is on this page of our website:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints
and the complaints form is here:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
Please be assured that we try to help as many animals as we can but with nearly a million calls to us in 2024 alone, we just can’t help all of them all of the time. As a charity we have limited resources, with around 360 officers across the whole of England and Wales. There are hundreds of other charities out there also doing as much as they can, but we're all under incredible pressure and only have limited resources, so sadly some people feel let down by us.
I’d like to share some figures of our work during 2024 which show the extent of our work and what kind donations from members of the public help us to achieve:
-We received 907,797 calls to our National Control Centre
-Our officers dealt with 82,490 welfare incidents
-31,129 welfare notices and advice were given out by our officers advising people that their animals' care needed improvement
-RSPCA centres took into their care 47,966 animals
-10,094 wild animals were admitted to our wildlife centres
-41,950 animals were neutered
-33,147 animals were microchipped
-79,438 treatments were dispensed (excluding neutering)
-We secured 860 convictions in the magistrates courts and 240 convictions in the Crown courts.
We hope to hear from you soon so that we can look into this for you.
With best wishes
Emma
Useless
Useless, I reported a dog walker who was physically abusing dogs and posting the videos online. They told me to contact the local authority about business licencing.
September 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Dom,
Thank you for getting in touch with us and trying to seek help for the dogs. We appreciate how distressing this footage will have been and I'm sorry that you’re frustrated with the advice you received during your call.
Please do fill out the complaints form on our website. We’d like to check how your concerns have been handled and the advice you received, you can find the form at
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
You can read our national complaints procedure on this page of our website:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints
We hope to hear from you soon so that we can look into this for you.
With best wishes
Emma
I can’t give these a 0 star so 1 will…
I can’t give these a 0 star so 1 will have to do. Rang three numbers trying to get in contact with them to let them know there was a bunny on the side of the road with its eyes ripped out, not one answer from any of the numbers. Also phone was put down twice. Absolutely shocking!!!
September 2, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hi Olivia,
Thank you for showing such kindness and trying to seek help for the rabbit. I appreciate how upsetting this must have been for you to see.
I’m very sorry to hear you’ve had difficulty getting through to speak to us. Our National Control Centre receives around one million calls each year and thousands of online reports of animal welfare concern too. I can promise you that we’re answering calls and online chats non-stop during opening hours.
We’d like to look into your complaint, so please do fill out our form by following this link and then we’ll be able to respond to your specific concerns:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
We hope to hear from you soon
Best wishes
Emma
"We refuse to let animals suffer" Update
Six phone calls, one complaint, no discernible action.
That's my experience so far of dealing with the RSPCA. One of the many RSPCA ads we're being bombarded with at the moment proudly proclaims:
"We refuse to let animals suffer." Really?
Here's Alfie's story. Some years ago, I was "adopted" by a cat. (I call him Alfie.) I tried to liaise with the owners via a vet, but without success, so his microchip remained in their name. Three weeks ago, he developed flu-like symptoms, made worse by a cancerous growth on his nose (which a neighbour had already reported to the RSPCA.) As I have no authority to take him to a vet, I phoned the RSPCA.
A few days later, I had a call from an RSPCA inspector, who told me the owners had agreed to sign the cat over to them. I put in a request to adopt him but was told I lived too close to the previous owner and it became clear from our discussion that the cat's ultimate fate would be euthanasia.
I was expecting someone to contact me the following week but nothing happened then, or in the week after that.
In the meantime, Alfie's health continued to deteriorate and I knew he needed urgent veterinary treatment. As his symptoms worsened, I phoned them on several occasions alerting them to this fact. More than once I begged to be allowed to take him to a vet, but to no avail. I then posted a complaint online, but just got a vague response, basically telling me that that their officers were working to capacity in my area (which I don't doubt) and that someone would contact me asap.
So, while they're busy saving other animals, this poor cat is left in limbo, with me involuntarily complicit in his suffering. He's unable to swallow now and hasn't eaten for days. All he's been able to do is drink small amounts of water. He's getting increasingly weaker (obviously) and is so ill he's starting to smell. What upsets me most is, if he'd had some basic treatment at the start of his illness, this might never have happened.
I phoned the RSPCA again yesterday evening and requested (politely) that somebody dealing with the case gets in touch with me. I'm not holding my breath.
No doubt, in time, if he's still alive, someone will swoop in, collect him, take him to a vet and have him dispatched. All done and dusted and swept under the carpet. Oh, no. I think not. I intend to take this further, I wouldn't want any other animal or owner/guardian to go through this.
(To RSPCA spokesperson, please don't trouble to reply. You can't defend the indefensible.)
Update
The outcome to this post was far better than I could possibly have hoped for. In short, by the time an RSPCA officer turned up, the cat, against all the odds, was showing early signs of recovery and I was able to persuade them to leave the animal in my care. All credit here to the officer in question who navigated a tricky situation in order to facilitate a change of ownership. Following a course of treatment, with more to come, "Alfie" is doing well and is on track to enjoy a comfortable "retirement", although he is now blind in one eye as a result of the infection going untreated for so long. However, I doubt many animals in a similar situation would experience such a positive outcome; with so many needy animals and so few RSPCA officers, there can be little room for sentiment.
So why is the RSPCA misleading the public?
Your current advertising campaign represents the RSPCA as a caring and compassionate organisation, ready to leap to the aid of any animal in need. Consequently, people are angry and disillusioned when you fail to live up to the hype. I have no doubt, Emma, that the vast majority of people who work for the RSPCA care passionately about animals (Why would they be there otherwise?) but with so many demands on your resources and officers working at full stretch, something has to give.
Enquirers are directed to your website, but many people, including myself, have found it confusing and some of the information misleading. I felt I was being sent round in circles, with none of my questions answered and the problem unresolved.
As for your call centre, I had to be persistent to get anywhere at all. The first person I spoke to said the RSPCA couldn't help me, but I could try the PDSA or the Blue Cross! It seems, from my experience of later calls, that some call handlers are more experienced than others and therefore more helpful.
Perhaps, as many people have suggested, your resources could be better spent employing more people on the front line than funding the inflated salaries of executive staff.
In conclusion, I have recently been contacted by a senior RSPCA inspector, who acknowledged that the RSPCA was clearly at fault in the case I highlighted here, for which she apologised unreservedly. Hopefully, measures will now be put in place to ensure no other animal has to endure similar neglect.
August 31, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Thank you so much Cynthia for caring about the cat and seeking help for it. I can assure you that, like you, everyone working at the RSPCA cares deeply about animals and our officers spend their days driving from one job to another.
With nearly a million calls yearly plus many thousands of online welfare reports too, we need to prioritise their jobs very carefully. So we’re having to make some extremely difficult decisions all the time about which jobs to send them to next as there are so many competing priorities. We try our very best, and it breaks our hearts to know that we can't be everywhere we need to be, all of the time.
Although I don’t know the exact details of the job you refer to, from what you say it sounds as though the officers in your area are well aware of the cat but are currently dealing with a high number of seriously urgent jobs. I realise this will be of little comfort to you and I can only emphasise that we’re just a charity doing our best to help as many animals as we can.
If you’ve rung the call centre again, the details will be logged and officers will be aware of your concerns and they’ll get to you as soon as they possibly can.
Once officers have been in touch and the job has been closed, if you wish to take your complaint further please do contact the Service Complaints Team again. The RSPCA’s national complaints procedure is on this page of our website and you’ll see that it has an escalation procedure:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints
Yours sincerely and with best wishes
Emma
Don't want to know unless there's money involved
Supported the. Gor years paying £60 a year.
Reported three large dogs near my Home living in atrocious conditions never out for walks and what did they do NOTHING. Ride on the phone as well!
Needless to say I stopped my donation to an uncaring money orientated sham of an organisation. Shame on you!
August 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Dear Ivor
We'd like to look into your complaint so please do fill out our website's form below and we'll do this then come back to you by email:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
Thank you very much for supporting us with donations in the past. These will have helped towards our work, like the following we did last year:
- We received 907,797 calls to our National Control Centre
- Our officers dealt with 82,490 welfare incidents
- 31,129 welfare notices and advice were given out by our officers advising people that their animals' care needed improvement
- RSPCA centres took into their care 47,966 animals
- 10,094 wild animals were admitted to our wildlife centres
- 41,950 animals were neutered
- 33,147 animals were microchipped
- 79,438 treatments were dispensed (excluding neutering)
- We secured 860 convictions in the magistrates courts and 240 convictions in the Crown courts.
With best wishes
Emma
I'm absolutely disgusted with the rspca…
I'm absolutely disgusted with the rspca I made a report about an injured dog who cannot breathe with a possible broken leg and they said they couldn't help gave me a phone number for dog trust then to be tld can't ring till in the morning mean while a poor dog is suffering I'm disgusted I've tried web chat no one is available and I've just tried to fill a complaint form in as instructed only for it to say there having technical issues I've tried again and still no joy
August 28, 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from RSPCA (England and Wales)
Hello Maria
Could you please get in touch with us by filling out our website's complaints form (below) and we'll look into this for you:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/complaints/form
I'm sorry to hear you've had difficulty with the form. We've just checked by filling it out twice and it worked okay. So there must have been a temporary issue. Please try again and select 'service complaint' from the 'Enquiry - type selection' dropdown list.
Best wishes
Emma
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