The RSPCA will drop its policy of pursuing prosecutions against hunts and will return to frontline animal welfare work, its chairman has said.
Mike Tomlinson told the press the charity had a “£6.1m net cash outflow”, and in the light of this, expenditures on prosecutions were not sustainable. The organisation spent an estimated £500,000 on prosecutions in 2013.
Mr Tomlinson said the RSPCA now planned to shed jobs and restructure.
Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance said: “This news raises very serious questions over how the RSPCA spends the money donated by its supporters. I’m sure many donors will have concerns over the huge sums of money spent prosecuting hunts.
“We have long questioned the RSPCA’s commitment to prosecute cases itself rather than turning them over to the police and CPS. Perhaps by leaving prosecutions to publicly accountable bodies they could save money, restore public confidence and concentrate on animal welfare.”
Comments are closed