Animal-lovers' fury over RSPCA's treatment of stray dog.

Nov 7 2010 by Jane Tyler, Sunday Mercury

“He was shocked and couldn’t believe it. There was no way you could let the dog go. What would have happened if it had got hit by a car or run into the road and caused an accident?

“It wasn’t a small dog. It was enormous, the size of a small Shetland pony.”

The dog stayed with a friend of Tina’s overnight, and they rang an emergency vet.

Yesterday Tina rang Birmingham City Council, which despatched a warden to collect the dog to take it to a vet for treatment. It was later due to be transferred to Birmingham Dogs Home.

“I know the dog wasn’t injured,” said Tina. “But we told the RSPCA it was in a bad way and kept collapsing. They still refused to come out. For them to tell us to let the dog loose on a busy road was irresponsible and unforgivable.

“I’m disgusted by their behaviour. I used to give money to them, but won’t anymore.”

But a spokeswoman for the RSPCA said the organisation would never have told anybody to release a dog on the road.

“If a dog is injured or in danger then we always try our best to get there,” she said.

“If an inspector is not available then we advise the caller to contact the police, or call out a vet. We would never, under any circumstances, tell someone to just let the dog go, because that would put the animal in danger.”

In this situation, she said, the dog was the responsibility of the council’s wardens because it was not injured,

“If there’s nothing wrong with the dog then it’s the local authority who should take it,” she said.

“They receive money from the Government for this service.”