RSPCA

News from the RSPCA-

Which imperfect pooch will take the lead in a national dog show with a difference?

RSPCA Ruffs launches this week!

The RSPCA is celebrating the underdog with its own dog show to rival Crufts - with clever canines who have overcome adversity and are now happy hounds.

Shocking new figures come 180 years after dog and cockfighting was banned in UK.

Calls to the RSPCA reporting organised animal fighting have gone up by a third in the past five years - despite dog and cockfighting being banned for 180 years.

There was a total of 594 calls to Britain’s biggest animal charity in 2014 to report incidents or information connected to organised animal fighting, compared to 449 in 2010 - an increase of nearly 33%.

To mark the RSPCA’s Ruffs online dog show with a difference, the charity
is hoping people will start to look twice at these ‘wonky’ dogs in need of
a new home.

This Friday, February 20, marks the closing of entrants for RSPCA Ruffs
2015 - the charity’s alternative online dog show.

To challenge the traditional beauty pageant style dog shows, which judge
dogs primarily on looks, even when its these looks which can cause them to
suffer, ‘Ruffs’ celebrates them for the right reasons - their welfare and

Busy festive period for charity despite abandonments at lowest in five years.

The RSPCA has rescued hundreds of animals, from guinea pigs to a ferret, which were abandoned during the festive period.

Officers at Britain’s biggest animal charity were on duty throughout Christmas and the New Year when they were called upon to rescue animals that also included chinchillas, cats and dogs.

The animal welfare charity rescues thousands of animals a year from abusive situations - many of these animals have been subjected to horrific injuries from the use of weapons such as metal bars, knives, guns and crossbows.

For example, RSPCA figures reveal that air rifle injuries on animals had leapt up by almost 40 per cent to almost 800 attacks reported to the charity in 2012. The horrific attacks include several cats shot in the face and whose eyes had to be removed and others who did not survive after being shot.

Fears owners could face up to five years in jail

Dog owners whose pets accidentally injure someone could face up to five years in jail under new Government proposals for tougher sentences, the RSPCA fears.

Britain’s biggest animal welfare charity welcomed this week’s proposals in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill to increase the maximum sentence for those irresponsible owners who fail to control their dogs in a way that puts the public and other animals in danger.

Pets dumped in bins, boxes and buckets

The RSPCA have reported an alarming increase in animals being abandoned across England and Wales.

In the last year, the RSPCA were called out to rescue more than 37,000 abandoned animals and received a call asking for help every 30 seconds.

Every year the charity sees a sharp rise in abandonments at the height of summer. Evidence from the RSPCA and other animal charities suggests some people chose to get rid of their pets rather than pay for them to be looked after while they are on holiday.

The RSPCA today (Tuesday May 28) launches its annual competition for budding young snappers to showcase their best images of animals.

The Young Photographer Awards 2013 (YPA13) welcomes all kinds of pictures from cheeky portraits of family pets to imaginative photos of wildlife and even close-ups of insects in a mix of categories open to young people under 19.

The competition is sponsored by Warners Midlands, supported by Olympus and Natures Images, and judged by a mix of photography professionals including presenter and wildlife expert Chris Packham.

The RSPCA Block Fen Animal Centre in Cambridgeshire is holding a sponsored Pooch Mooch on Sunday 12 May.
All well-mannered, active dogs should get their families to register to take part and are encouraged to get sponsorship too.

You will receive a certificate and doggy bag filled with delicious treats for your efforts. And your humans won’t miss out either because there are home-made biscuits for them to try in the coffee shop at Block Fen afterwards!

There are sponsorship forms available from the centre