The news that the RSPCA has finally agreed to carry out a review of its controversial prosecutions policy could prevent hundreds of innocent livestock farmers from the trauma of prosecution, according to a leading agricultural lawyer.
David Kirwan from Kirwans law firm has welcomed with caution the news that the charity has appointed former chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Stephen Wooler to carry out the first review of its prosecutions policy in 20 years.
He said: “For years farmers have borne the brunt of the RSPCA’s politicking. The news that the charity has bowed to pressure to conduct an internal review should give innocent livestock farmers hope that the findings will confirm what I have argued all along – that the charity’s prosecutions policy is completely at odds with its very ethos of putting animals first.
“I am sorry to say that some of the farmers I have represented have found that animals have been unnecessarily distressed and even injured through the actions of the RSPCA.”
Mr Kirwan also questioned whether the charity’s determination to prosecute meant it had lost its way a little.
“I do wonder whether in its diligence and enthusiasm to conduct prosecutions left, right and centre the charity may have lost sight of its core charitable objectives,” he said. “Do these prosecutions and the gargantuan expenditure related to them represent a proper return for the many thousands of benefactors upon whom the charity relies so heavily for its income?
“If this review is truly independent, then there is the potential for its findings to have an extremely positive effect on farmers in the future who may otherwise have lost everything through the often aggressive actions of the charity.
“However, we must bear in mind when reading the findings that the review has been commissioned by the charity itself.”
The RSPCA’s decision to conduct an internal review, which is expected to cost between £30,000-£50,000, comes after months of criticism and a letter from the Attorney General asking the charity to consider its prosecutions policy.
The review will take place over the next four months, and Wooler’s findings are expected to be published by next summer.
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