Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: fuzziesdad on March 19, 2007, 18:52:58 PM
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air your views on the RSPCA.
http://sowhatsyourtakeontherspca.blogspot.com/
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so you seem to have a problem with the rspca :sneaky: the centre i work for does and always have done their best for the animals
in the next weeks they are supplying free health check worth £20, free nueturing and also free microchipping
they home check all possible new homes
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That blog looks like a really dodgy proposition tbh - accusations without any facts to back them up are never a good sign.
I have mixed feelings about the RSPCA. When it comes to legislation and the big legal stuff they're second to none. I think that their actual name says a lot "Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" - that's their remit, preventing cruelty. Not looking after strays, or rehoming them, or doing the right thing by that nice old puss that might take months or a year to find the right set of new humans. They do not let animals suffer, but that's it. I think the best branches are those that work alongside other animal orgs and have the sense to delegate out 'specialities' to CPL, Dogs Trust, Cinnamon etc - the worst, of course, are those that see numbers before individual little animal souls and end up euthanising many.
They are very good at their 'thing' - the legislative stuff, public information etc - and I think we need to remember that. It is immensely valuable, even if it means that there are other things that we wish they did better.
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Which RSPCA centre do you work for Alison?
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bury-oldham branch - dep manager of one of their shops
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Thought it would be - so you actually work for a shop rather than the centre then? Just curious with you adopting through us. I had heard the Oldham branch was doing free neutering, didn't know about the others though. Have to say, we take a lot of calls when they wont help though.
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their polciy is if you take in the cat they will rehome it but if its a stray they cant
i know when there was a dog tied to back gate of shop the other week i had to phone inspector up but he had to take it to police station rather than to centre
but they normally do take them in if you take them to centre
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Thanks for clearing that up Alison, I now know what to do next time someone closer to the RSPCA than us ask us to help a stray!! It does puzzle me how that works with what the initials stand for, but c'est la vie!!
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If you knew me well enough alison you would know I have never had any problem with RSPCA rescues or shelters its with the HQ and their policies especially about strays and the pts policy of FIV cats which even you cannot defend,the case I mentioned is on going but be assured they did break her door down 3 inspectors 6 police and several council officials and NO WARRANT how can they justify that 70 years old and disabled I am sure you might take notice if it were your mother or grandmother.
Yes you are right I do have a problem with the RSPCA all the time this sort of thing is going on its not just one case but hundreds ask anyone who knows me well how many years I have been complaining about this sort of thing and now they have virtually become the animal police I would have thought that their behavior would have improved but is has not.
we live it a free country and I am entitled to my opinion this is it and I am not the only one that has it there are more than you might think.
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their policies especially about strays and the pts policy of FIV cats which even you cannot defend
100% agree !
and look at the case i told on here -
RTA of a cat who was picked up by RSPCA and when found that it had a broken pelvis the RSPCA authorised PTS!!
Lucky the cat was saved when "animates" said they would foot the bill.
Cat has now recovered and been reunited with his owner - left to the RSPCA he would be dead
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bury-oldham branch - dep manager of one of their shops
I don't wish to be rude but we have a Charity shop and the unpaid volunteers (we don't have paid staff), in all honesty don't know much about the rescue side of things. I would only imagine a shop worker would only know what really happens if they had worked at the centre, even then, I know for sure ask too many questions and you are out.
their policy is if you take in the cat they will re-home it but if its a stray they cant
Exactly why many people are not impressed, this policy puts enormous strain on all other rescues. If other rescues just dealt with gifted cats their task would be much easier as these cats tend to be family cats, also when rescues take in strays their temperament is unpredictable and they can take a very long time before they settle down and of course until we know the temperament of a cat we are unable to home it, the strays tend to need more vet attention, many are in a terrible state when they come to us. Some of the strays are elderly and it is almost impossible to re-home them. Most other rescues have a no destruction policy (except very ill cats who the vet thinks will suffer), as they have this policy they never know when a space will become available for another cat therefore, they always have a list of cats waiting to come in, however if a stray cat is ill and needs to see a vet we and I am sure other rescues arrange for it to do so. Also we don't have a £50 limit if a cat needs £500 spending on it we will do so if it gives the little one a chance of life. Every year our vets ask us to take in cats that have had the first £50 authorised by the RSPCA but they will not pay any more, how can we refuse when for the sake of a few hundred pounds their precious life can be saved.
Also it is not all cats that they take in they regime, e.g FeLV, FIV.
Our local RSPCA put people on to us when they want help neutering/spaying. I don't mind however.
Please don't think I am getting at you I am not, but I cannot see the RSPCA through rose coloured spectacles. Not necessarily a persons fault as the powers that be will only tell a person what they want them to know.
RSPCA the P stands for Prevention yet when they are phoned about a situation that is potential and for sure will happen you are told we can't do anything about it till it has happened. I think the powers that be need to watch Animal Planet about the rescue Police in parts of America.
Oh! don't get me started I could write a book. Although to be fair I have to say that they do a lot of good but they could do lot more.
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3 inspectors
Wow, yet have you ever tried to ring about a problem and been told there is only 1 Inspector covering 5 counties. The others were possibly running around in front of Rolf Harris and the cameras. Although I have heard that he has fallen out with them now about an incident when filming. I am not sure if that is true or not.
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I would like a watchdog for the RSPCA - although I am sure they do some good things, I have heard some terrible stories about healthy animals being PTS because of policy. This isn't a small struggling charity. They have millions of pounds in reserve. It has got to the point where I wanted a CD in the Faversham shop on Saturday and wondered if it was a good or bad thing buying from their shops. For too long they have been a law unto themselves & beyond reproach. As has been said already, the people that work on the frontline are doing their best for the animals but I cannot support a charity that would kill healthy or treatable animals.
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It has got to the point where I wanted a CD in the Faversham shop on Saturday
I know what you are saying Mark but don't cut of your nose to spite your face (if you know what I mean). If they have something you really want don't feel guilty about buying it. After all they do some good sometimes. I have been into our RSPCA shop a couple of times, (never seen anything worth buying though) but to it stinks awful.
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i am sorry about all the things that i have read on here and we shop managers dont get told all the hq stuff we only get to know what is happening in our local centre
i do support my shop because we try and make not just for the rspca but also for the community getting a bargain :wow: we have only good stock that even every bit of clothing we get gets steamed before puttin out
i have done charity shop work for long time and like to think of not only helpin the charity but also us the people
didnt like everyone on my back lol :Crazy: its sore as it is
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get to know what is happening in our local centre
You are lucky to be inviolved with perhaps a caring center, but that does not alter the fact that they don't take in strays which are usually the most needy.
didnt like everyone on my back lol its sore as it is
The comments are not personal but aimed on the society as a whole. We cannot say they are wonderful when in actual fact they fail so many.
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From all I've read and heard there are many good people involved with the RSPCA, and they are being betrayed by those to whom it's just a job and the animals are incidental. The problem is that the way it's organized allows this.
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job and the animals are incidental.
I think that is why most people in other rescues are more caring as many rescues have unpaid slaves volunteers and they do it because they want to make a difference and not remuneration. I know Cats Protection alone has over 260 branches all run by unpaid volunteers.
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how come they say they dont take in strays but on some of the cats info records it says reason for admitance : stray : ??????????
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From all I've read and heard there are many good people involved with the RSPCA, and they are being betrayed by those to whom it's just a job and the animals are incidental. The problem is that the way it's organized allows this.
hence me asking for a watchdog.
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how come they say they dont take in strays but on some of the cats info records it says reason for admitance : stray : ??????????
Inspectors will pick them up ....but they will not take them from the public or other rescues ...................normally.
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Inspectors will pick them up ....but
I agree an inspector does collect some especially if the are in a life threatening situation. (The £50 rule still usually applies though) however if the cat is running around and not contained in one place people have been told that nothing can be done. Also the RSPCA inspectorate will authorise a member of the public to take an injured cat (if a stray) to the vets, again the £50 rule applies)
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One of my cats, Maddy, was a stray kitten found by some neighbours of mine in my old street. They were a student house and rang the RSPCA straight away. Then because one of the students was allergic, Maddy ended up at my house until the RSPCA arrived. By this time it was nearly 10pm and the RSPCA chap arrived. He told me that the reason he had come out so late was because he had been told by the students that the kitten was 6 weeks old, therefore in a couldn't be left on her own, but actually she was more like 14 weeks. He hinted that he wouldn't have been allowed to collect her if he had known that and suggested that we should keep her. I didn't think much of it at the time but judging by what I know about RSPCA policy now, I expect he would have been instructed to PTS in the van. She was perfectly healthy (apart from a couple of fleas) and yet could easily have been pts if I hadn't taken her on.
The RSPCA is the organisation that joe bloggs knows about and will of course be their first port of call. Their helpline is a farce and HQ have a lot of answer for.
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Ela : whats the £50 rule???????
theres a cat we see round here roaming the streets
shes like one of those ragdoll type cats long haired and cream n brown in colour
shes so :censored: knotted up with all clumps of knots where no one has brushed her for years it looks like
im not kidding u one of the knots is so big its hanging on the floor from the cats body
ive rang the rspca ,cpl , and vets and they all said they can only help if i catch her and take her to a vet :'( ive tried several times but the cat wont come anywhere near me
ive even brought chicken n tuna to tempt it but nuffin works .
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you could ask the cpl to put out a trap cage.
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lynn: as ive said to Ela b4 our cpl just isnt like others they wont do nothing .
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The £50 rule is that RSPCA (or CP) will agree to pay the first £50 of a stray's vet treatment as long as it is authorised first.
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who pays the rest of it then??????????????
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If it costs more and no rescue can be found to pay the rest then usually pts :tired:
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:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
omg no way !
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with the £50.00 >:(
How many millions do the RSPCA have in reserve again? :tired:
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Too many Mark!
They can only spare £50, where individual rescues & CP who have to fund themselves would foot a bill of £500 if necessary :censored: no wonder they have so much money, they dont spend it.
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lynn: as ive said to Ela b4 our cpl just isnt like others they wont do nothing
If I knew a rescue like that I would contact their HQ.
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la : whats the £50 rule???????
Usually if a certain rescue takes a cat to the vets or asks a member of the public they will only pay the first £50
ive even brought chicken n tuna to tempt it but nuffin works .
Ask you local branch to lend you a trap.
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If it costs more and no rescue can be found to pay the rest then usually pts
I can only speak for my vet and in these cases we are always asked if we will taken on the cat and the bill, of course you know the answer.
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no wonder they have so much money, they dont spend it.
I think rescues have to keep 2 or 3 years running costs in reserve to ensure the wellbeing of the animals in care should something happen and the money does not come in.
I suspect at least one rescue exceeds the amount they do need to keep.
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i rspca r just rude anyway !
14 mths ago i got a job there in the small animals unit
and i worked my :censored: off and never even got offered a drink
yet the rest of them were all drinking coffee all day
i worked from 10 in the morning till 5 at night and i never bothered going bk afterwards
it wasnt wat i really wanted to do anyway
id much rather work for the cpl
but i aint got no space or no spare rooms to foster
i dont drive
and when i rang up about helping with the fone calls they said they had enough people to do that :'(
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I am confused forever..............if you worked in their animal unit why were you asking the questions below?
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Too many Mark!
They can only spare £50, where individual rescues & CP who have to fund themselves would foot a bill of £500 if necessary :censored: no wonder they have so much money, they dont spend it.
last count they had 35 people who work in IT all forums are monitored so most of what you write on here is absorbed .......for what purpose who knows.
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i rspca r just rude anyway !
14 mths ago i got a job there in the small animals unit
and i worked my :censored: off and never even got offered a drink
yet the rest of them were all drinking coffee all day
i worked from 10 in the morning till 5 at night and i never bothered going bk afterwards
it wasnt wat i really wanted to do anyway
id much rather work for the cpl
but i aint got no space or no spare rooms to foster
i dont drive
and when i rang up about helping with the fone calls they said they had enough people to do that :'(
could ask them if they need a lost and found officer?
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last count they had 35 people who work in IT all forums are monitored so most of what you write on here is absorbed .......for what purpose who knows.
It certainly is not to take on board whay people say and improve the situation, is it?
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Ela : whats the £50 rule???????
theres a cat we see round here roaming the streets
shes like one of those ragdoll type cats long haired and cream n brown in colour
shes so :censored: knotted up with all clumps of knots where no one has brushed her for years it looks like
im not kidding u one of the knots is so big its hanging on the floor from the cats body
ive rang the rspca ,cpl , and vets and they all said they can only help if i catch her and take her to a vet :'( ive tried several times but the cat wont come anywhere near me
ive even brought chicken n tuna to tempt it but nuffin works .
Whereabouts are you??
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I used to help with the fundraising for the RSPCA when I was a kid and it wasn't until we got involved with CP that I started hearing negative things about them. Its really disapointing because they have so much positive publicity on the tv and loads of people helping raise funds for them that they are in the position to do so much more.
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Gill i asked Because ......................i worked there for one day only !
i never worked with the cats or dogs
i worked in the small animal unit with rabbits hamsters rats etc etc
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Dawn: im in portsmouth hampshire .
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Fuzzie: do u need experience to b a lost n found officer thou?
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I seeeeeeeeeeeeee 8)
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Dawn: im in portsmouth hampshire .
I've got a friend in Hampshire who runs a rescue, I'll try and get hold of her tomorrow to see how far she is from you. Hopefully she may be able to help trap the cat for you if she's close enough.
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awwwwwwwwww thanks Dawn that nice of ya
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No worries hun, I'll see what I can do :hug:
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Dawn to the rescue! :ok:
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awwwwwwwwww thanks Dawn that nice of ya
It's sorted, my friend is about 20 minutes away from you, she has a trap and said she will take the little one in and get him/her sorted. I'll pm you her number now so you can contact her with address and phone number.
Let me know how you get on :)
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Fuzzie: do u need experience to b a lost n found officer thou?
No not really its a case of finding someone in your area who knows about cats,I started with just making a list of lost and a list of found and tried to put them together,advice on how to find a lost cat is common sense really,it does help if at some time you have lost a cat it gives you that edge and makes you a bit more diplomatic with someone who has a cat missing (sometimes you can see just why the cat has gone and most times its the owners mis- reading of the situation and getting mis-information from someone trying to help)its as easy or difficult as YOU want to make it.
someone (I don't know who) had a survey done on lost cats in the USA and came up with this astounding fact that the lost cat was never much further than 300m from their home and having given that some thought its probably right.
If you approach CP I am sure they would welcome you with open arms as when not doing lost and found there are plenty of other things to do.......................I'm sure,Ela is probably more equipped to tell you about that.
whatever you do with or without CP good luck.
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Ela is probably more equipped to tell you about that.
I think Forever posted once that she always says as it is. Unfortunately, in rescue sometimes you have to be very diplomatic and keep your gob shut for the sake of the animals. One word that a person doesn't like and an animals life could be in danger. So perhaps for now a job where there was no dealing with members of the public would be the right way to go.
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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: oh noooooooo Ela knows me too well ;D
yea ur right Ela
id not be able to keep my mouth shut if someone wasnt looking after an animal properly ,
ideally id love to foster but we havent got any spare rooms here so its a no go :'( :'( :'(
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Ela is probably more equipped to tell you about that.
I think Forever posted once that she always says as it is. Unfortunately, in rescue sometimes you have to be very diplomatic and keep your gob shut for the sake of the animals. One word that a person doesn't like and an animals life could be in danger. So perhaps for now a job where there was no dealing with members of the public would be the right way to go.
funnily enough it was the public I was OK with it was the regional organizer (think thats what she called herself) I might have missed a dis out there somewhere......lol and according to reports she has left. :Crazy:
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oh noooooooo Ela knows me too well
I am a very good judge of character, usually if I meet someone for the first time I know exactly what they are really like. I can also usually tell what a person is really like by their postings, although perhaps many of you are like that also. Even speaking on the phone I can sort out the weeds from the flowers so to speak. I think that is the reason we always get it right when homing cats as it is me who vets everyone.
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Im also a very good judge of character
as soon as i see someone i know if im gona like em or not
and thats the same as when i speak to someone on the fone i can tell if im going to get on with them or not
i can also judge by peoples posts as to who is my type of person and who aint
im sooooooo rude aint i lol
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I think after you have been doing the job for so long ela and having communicated in some way with probably thousands of folk you must get pretty good at judging fairly.
I'm fairly good with public and enjoyed short spells in reception, it gave me a break from the norm (my greatest skills are in the medical side of things tho) although my biggest failing is dealing with very ignorant / poorly educated sorts. I have a hard time keeping my composure and not losing my rag Some ..ok many may have said i dont suffer fools gladly (a failing on my part i know) after half and hour of them just not listening/understanding/argueing/thinking they know best. I start off great but just slowly lost the will to live at which point i'd shout a proper receptionist etc back and disapear back to doing what i was good at ;D
I do remember such a woman years ago who had a little cavalier king charles. she loved her dog dearly and had grown up mentally handicapped children so really she'd always had quite a poor life being a skivvy to everyone but very well meaning, she was in the poor income bracket aswell. Her wee dog "ruby" had arthritic and heart problem but she was soooo obese and my head nurse (before i was head nurse) and i tried hard for well over a year to get this dog to lose weight. She could hardly breath or walk but the owner just couldnt take in what we spent hours telling her..the usual was "but ruby doesnt eat alot" we explained the full shibang about kcal requirements, the detrimental effects it was having on her health. we gave her so much attention and support explaining how to get her doggie to eat the diet food, tips and advise but it was always the same "ruby doesnt eat alot and i only give her fun sized fudges etc now not the big ones" finally whilst we were both in the room altho it was my head nurse doing the talking with her eyes slowly bulging out more and more from the sockets and her face turning blue :rofl: she just snapped (rememeber we'd done this every week for atleast 18 mnths) and she says to the woman " Look the bottom line is ruby is going to die very soon and you are the person who is killing her, we have gone an extra 10 miles and bent over backwards for you but you are refusing our help so there is nothing further us nurses can do for you" I stood there gobsmacked that she'd said this to a client (and trying to stop myself laughing coz it just got so funny in the end) Funnily enough after we had calmed down then started thinking sh :censored: e we're in for it now from the boss...he actually turned round and said "well done" :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: someone had to say it like it was, it was the only way she'd understand
Needless to say ruby never lost much weight, well she did but only due to illness, killed in the end with kindness really.
No i really dont think i could do Ela's job, I'd be good at some aspects of it but i'd say she gets a fair few of the type of peeps i am better staying clear of. Once when i was going through a bad spell at work and just wanted to get out i went for a job interview as a dog warden for the local coucil. In the interview you'd think i was being interviewed for the sas or something :rofl: but they were asking all types of hypothetical questions and in the end i didnt get the job because i had said when returning roaming dogs etc i'd "advise" neuterings/vaccinations/chipping etc etc (all the stuff i'd advise as a vn to the public) and this isnt a place of a dog warden so even though i thought i'd probably provide a better service to the animals benefit, as even if only 1 person listens out of 10 its progress they said i wasnt suitable for the role as they were looking for someone who was just going to know how to handle the animals (i was ok in that bit) and return them giving warnings about letting their animals roam :Crazy: :Crazy: :Crazy: I was glad because worked picked up after that again and i was happier doing what i do best.