News Shorts & Other Busyness
Homeless Cruelty
Squall 8, Autumn 1994, pg. 5.
The Big Tissue recently carried the story of a homeless man who lost his dog. When he phoned the RSPCA to ask if they had found it he was told that they had not, and even if they had they would not return a dog to a homeless person.
Intrigued as to whether this was individual prejudice or RSPCA policy, Squall rang the RSPCA head office in Sussex. Mrs Geard of the Information Department admitted that the association generally finds that homeless people treat their dogs very well.
“The youngsters that have dogs and stand around in shopping centres treat their dogs well because they get a lot of public sympathy and get money for the dogs. We do keep a close eye on them,” she said.
She could not be clear about specific policy on returning dogs to homeless owners: “We do a home check. If the home is not suitable then we would not return the dog.” She would not say more but repeated the phrase “if the home is not suitable...” several times. Presumably, not having a home at all is ‘not suitable’.
Would a dog about to be put down in an overcrowded RSPCA kennel see it this way? Probably not eh?