They send out press releases about how they are going to sort out councils but do not reply to any of these public comments.

Is the RSPCA becoming out of touch?

Sorry I get it now!

Such humour is wasted on a numpty like me, I never real get the humour and comedy from Oscar Wilde.

I blame the government for not providing enough stand up comedians in school!

What have I got all wrong?

I think Mr Claughton also needs to research Local Authority Housing. More and more ‘Council Housing’ is nothing to do with the Local Authority. A vast majority of it has been privatised and is now run by Co-operatives and other organisations for ‘Social Housing’ which has nothing to do with the Local Authority.

Waste of time and effort, your call that the information should be collected by the government is a great idea, wonder why they do not already do that now?

It does seem confusing that the RSPCA is becoming over involved in local council matters and you are correct when you write that on telly the adverts seem to show the RSPCA doing everything including stray dogs?

Surely the bronze, silver gold has been ‘borrowed’ from the Kennel Club Good Dog Citizen Tests? Also, has the ‘initiative award’ not been borrowed from that too? I think there is a special category for groups and organisations that the Kennel Club gives out?

The dogs as weapons and cat hoarding is not a council issue, it shows yet again that these political lobbyist people go from organisation to organisation ‘selling’ a product, it does not necessarily have to be animal welfare, the target product can be anything. Whatever it is, the political people do not (as is clearly shown in the article above) have to know anything about what they are talking about?

In a nutshell, the above initiative has had influence from:

Dissater Planning – Dog Warden Association

Bronze, Silver Gold – Kennel Club dog citizen

There is plenty of guidance (however atrocious), just not enough money and resources from the government to help councils.

The housing issues involves human rights as well as animal rights, presumably Mr Claughton and colleagues do not live in ‘council houses’, why should animal ownership be restricted because a person is a council tenant? Are council tenants any more or less responsible/irresponsible than people who have mortgages or rent in private accommodation?

As a person who used to live in a council house (possibly like millions of people may have over the years at some stage in their lives) I am a dog owner so why do I need to be treated differently just because at the time I did not own my own house?

Very patronising behaviour from the RSPCA, if they bothered to check, they would probably be amazed to discover that council housing departments do deal with problems caused by animals at tenant’s houses in the same way that the environmental health deals with problems caused by animals in non-council houses. As landlords the councils have a duty to resolve the problem, like all landlords, no special treatment because they are dealing with council house occupants, just following the ‘guidance’ of which there is not much according to Mr Claughton?

This is something else that the RSPCA is highlighting that is already dealt with, what a waste of time and effort on the part of the RSPCA!

Perhaps it is time that Mr Claughton the Local Government Advisor returned to politics and kept out of interfering with animal related matters at local council level which he does not seem to know much about?

“When it comes to animal welfare, councils are often criticised but seldom rewarded, so we’re trying to redress the balance,” said Piers. “Dogs being used as weapons on housing estates, stray dogs roaming the streets, houses packed to the rafters with unkept cats – these are all headlines we’ve seen which may reflect badly on councils.

I think it is probably time that Mr Claughton returned to politics and lobbying instead of making the RSPCA a local authority watchdog. Of the three examples he provides that “may reflect badly on councils” only one is the sole responsibility of councils.

“Dogs used as weapons” must be in the posession of a person (so are not stray) and must have been used in a manner which indicates public order offences (or else anyone standing around with a big dog would be guilty of standing around with a “weapon”). Public order and assault are POLICE matters not local authority matters as local authority officers have no powers in respect of these offences.

“Stray dogs” – yes; totaly! Local authorities now thanks to the likes of the RSPCA supporting the police and pushing for it have sole responsibility for stary dogs and the most appalling guidance with which to apply it.

“Houses packed to the rafters with unkept cats”; interseting one this, you would once have thought that the RSPCA was the body to call about animal welfare matters like this. Just think how often you see those short films on television with heroic RSPCA inspectors and the police removing dog after dog and cat after cat from such “houses”. But of course the RSPCA managed to get another piece of legisaltion past this government the Animal Welfare Act in which local authorities become the ‘inspectorate’ for some animal welfare matters and that makes it easy for the RSPCA in the persona of Mr Claughton to deflect attention onto local authorities (who recieved no extra funding to carry out this work). But who does this ‘house’ belong to who is reporting the problem and who are they reporting it to? I think that unless the RSPCA want to announce that they are transfering all responsibility for animal welfare infringements to local authorities they should be aware that the public will call them and not the local authority on thse matters – or perhaps Mr Claughton would like to clarify for the public what the local authority and the RSPCA do, or does he just want to tell local authorities?