Statement on the RSPCA

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Tim Bonner has commented on a u-turn from the RSPCA in which they have distanced themselves from new CEO Jeremy Cooper's comments from the weekend. Tim said:"After a few moments of sanity, the RSPCA seems to have returned to the usual lies, smears and bigotry. Dysfunctional governance, and especially a radical animal rights element on its council, will destroy it if the council does not allow the new Chief Executive to bring some common sense to an organisation that has been in turmoil for such a long time. We all appreciate the work the Society does for animals, but we have said time and again that there is no room in animal welfare for a political agenda and bigoted approach. It is galling that just as the Society seemed to accept that it had made mistakes and got things wrong the drawbridge has been pulled back up." The RSPCA's comment is here.

Tim's original quote welcoming Mr Cooper's comments was: "The Countryside Alliance welcomes the RSPCA's commitment to focus on animal welfare, rather than pursuing an animal rights agenda. The Society's decision not to pursue prosecutions against farmers and hunts is a sensible one, and provides further support for the argument that it should not prosecute criminal cases as a first resort at all. We believe that it would be better for the RSPCA and for animals if it concentrated on protecting welfare and investigating allegations of cruelty whilst allowing the police, CPS and other statutory bodies to make decisions about whether criminal charges should be brought."

Read the original Telegraph article: "RSPCA boss says sorry for blunders and admits charity was too political" here.