26 October 2010

Show us the Money! RSPCA to ACT Government

| johnboy
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The RSPCA’s Michael Linke is noting they’ve had a busier than usual winter dealing with high numbers of native animals.

They’d now like more money from the ACT Government for the services performed on their behalf.

“These ongoing increases are not sustainable on current levels of government funding nor will our site cope with this volume of animals indefinitely. RSPCA ACT only receives about 10% of our funding from the ACT Government, the remainder comes for our community. I’d like to thank the Canberra community for their ongoing support.

“The community expects RSPCA to be there to support them with animal welfare issues, the government relies on us to administer the animal welfare act to educate the community and bring animal cruelty offenders to justice, the government continues to ask RSPCA to manage lost and stray animals with no commensurate funding. This work costs money and I am calling on the ACT government to make our funding request a priority.

“In light of the continued tough economic times it is imperative that the government quickly resolves our funding request and provides me with certainty about our future.”

The RSPCA

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I think the money should come from pet owners, not the tax payers.

Reducing the costs of pets from the RSPCA will only encourage more people who shouldn’t have one to get one. There are too many people with full time schedules who don’t have the time to give a dog or cat the attention it needs.
If you can’t do it 100% , you shouldn’t be doing it.

Perhaps if were given more money could keep a better check on animals. Never seen so many dogs in my life since moving to Canberra. Seems get a house get a dog. Tiny back yards huge dogs. Why? Don’t people understand about animal care, picking up droppings, walking on a leash and respect for other people and their property. All the money in the world won’t help until people get some common sense.

Thanks everyone for your supportive comments and votes.

One point that appears to have been missed is Gobbo’s suggestion that the government “donates” to RSPCA. The government does not donate.

Much like other NGO service providers RSPCA is partly funded for some services we deliver. For example, administration of the Animal Welfare Act – the community expects RSPCA to respond to cruelty complaints and as such we employ inspectors. Should enforcement of government legislation be paid for by voluntary donations or should the government fund this service? I think the government should fund it.

What about stray animal control? In other states RSPCA generally does not accept stray animals. This work is managed by local governments through local council pounds and paid for by state government through their council funding arrangements. In the ACT we only have one pound, and that pound only looks after adult dogs. So who looks after and pays for stray cats, kittens, stray puppies and the overflow of stray dogs? Plus the 700 odd other stray animals. Currently RSPCA does. The government does not fund this, we fund this.

I believe the government should fund this service and that RSPCA should use community support to assist with injured animals, wildlife support, support for vulnerable members of the community and their pets, discounted veterinary services, such as low cost desexign to assist with the reduction of animals presenting to our shelter and a host of other core animal welfare services.

We manage almost 9,000 animals annually, with up to 800 on site at any one time. We employ 55 people and our annual budget is about $3.5M. We engage 500 volunteers. 86% of our budget is spent directly on animal care, welfare and protection services.

Michael Linke
CEO
RSPCA ACT

georgesgenitals7:53 am 03 Nov 10

weeziepops said :

Plus the cost of rent, insurance, vehicles, equipment, water, electricity, medication…

Exactly. +1.

Gobbo said :

http://www.rspca-act.org.au/about-us/links-and-resources/

Plus the cost of rent, insurance, vehicles, equipment, water, electricity, medication…

Gobbo said :

How much is enough?

Am I wrong in thinking that the RSPCA received around $300K from the ACT Government last year and is getting $210K this financial year?

If that is only 10% of the local RSPCA’s funding, they are really making a motza when you consider all the volunteers that assist and all the freebie food they get given.

Wow! $210K really??!!! That’d pay $35K salaries for dozens of staff…..oh hang on…more like 6.

How much is enough?

Am I wrong in thinking that the RSPCA received around $300K from the ACT Government last year and is getting $210K this financial year?

If that is only 10% of the local RSPCA’s funding, they are really making a motza when you consider all the volunteers that assist and all the freebie food they get given.

churl said :

Hmmm
RSPCA helping native animals?
This would be the same organisation that was importing cats from Queensland a while ago…
To munch on the native animals.

churl said :

threepaws said :

I think you’ll find that never happened

for example:
“It’s purr-ty cold, and really just too hard to bear. Article from: Canberra Times | July 23, 2006
CANBERRA couples may be snuggling up as the temperature drops, but the cold weather is doing nothing for cats.
The official word from the RSPCA is that it is too cold for cats to breed, and it is creating a kitten crisis.
Luckily, 13 kittens from sunny Townsville jetted into frosty Canberra on Friday night to help alleviate the kitten drought.
Canberra RSPCA chief executive officer Michael Linke said the warmer temperatures in northern Queensland created a different breeding season.
”Cats breed when it is hot, and they have been breeding all winter in far north Queensland, and there is an excess supply.”

Thus the RSPCA seems beholden to cat and dog owners, rather than the wider animal world.

Big whoop. 13 kittens to ease the burden on Townsville RSPCA when Canberra had none. Believe it or not, people want cute, fluffy kittens regardless of the weather, while the adolescent/adult cats sit there waiting, hoping, for as long as it takes to find them a home.

13 kittens is a drop in the ocean compared with how many kittens go through that place in breeding season. If you want to preach the whole “cats munch on our wildlife” spiel, target cat owners, not RSPCA.

Things have changed since 2006.

If you are so worried about 13 kittens crossing borders, why don’t you get stuck into the people who advertise pets in the classifieds every weekend. You think they are all from Canberra?

threepaws said :

I think you’ll find that never happened

for example:
“It’s purr-ty cold, and really just too hard to bear. Article from: Canberra Times | July 23, 2006
CANBERRA couples may be snuggling up as the temperature drops, but the cold weather is doing nothing for cats.
The official word from the RSPCA is that it is too cold for cats to breed, and it is creating a kitten crisis.
Luckily, 13 kittens from sunny Townsville jetted into frosty Canberra on Friday night to help alleviate the kitten drought.
Canberra RSPCA chief executive officer Michael Linke said the warmer temperatures in northern Queensland created a different breeding season.
”Cats breed when it is hot, and they have been breeding all winter in far north Queensland, and there is an excess supply.”

Thus the RSPCA seems beholden to cat and dog owners, rather than the wider animal world.

GardeningGirl11:45 am 27 Oct 10

I think the RSPCA do good work.
I think it’s fair enough to ask questions when an organisation extends one hand to give you a trinket you didn’t particularly want and extends the other hand for a donation.
(As an aside I have to say I’m over the fundraising day novelty items that charities sell anyway. I’ve got a hoard of them. Maybe the idea is to chuck them out annually when you buy the new one? Not sure about the wisdom of that especially in these environmentally conscious times. On the other hand we’ve bought RSPCA caps, ongoing usefulness for us, and profit and advertising for them, that seems more sensible all round.)
I have worked in a charity office (not RSPCA) and I think it can be genuinely helpful to remind organisations what they’re supposed to be focussing on. It doesn’t need to be intentional to end up being wasteful.
If it was a government department instead of a warm fuzzy cute animal charity I’m sure no-one would feel asking questions is “cynical nitpicking”.
If businesses donate to charities then why can’t they donate useful things. Stationary for use in the organisation’s office is worthwhile, things to give away as freebies not so much.
Two cents per unit still adds up, look after the pennies and all that.
I also can’t shake the feeling that what is a cheap trinket here is a river full of pollution in its place of manufacture, even more so since watching Foreign Correspondent last night.
There are more worthwhile organisations and causes than I can help, so why shouldn’t I give some thought to my choices?

churl said :

Hmmm
RSPCA helping native animals?
This would be the same organisation that was importing cats from Queensland a while ago…
To munch on the native animals.

I think you’ll find that never happened

la mente torbida11:11 am 27 Oct 10

@churl
WTF?

I’m sure most would agree that Stanhope should look to give more money to the wonderful work the RSPCA do for canberra animals instead of wasting it on ugly artwork and the arboretum.

How can he justify that?

Without the wonderful work of the RSPCA, there would be a lot of animals put down.

Hmmm
RSPCA helping native animals?
This would be the same organisation that was importing cats from Queensland a while ago…
To munch on the native animals.

RSPCA needs more funding. My cousin went out there last weekend in the hopes of adopting a kitten. Unfortunately the hefty price tag of almost $300 turned her away.

If the Government funding the RSPCA will more money, they wouldn’t have to sell the animals for such high prices and more could be saved.

(Before you all start, I understand the cost includes the fact the animals were desexed and microchipped and would cost roughly that much to get done yourself)

No doubt it’s been said before – but why won’t Treasury allocate say 10% of consolidated revenue to NFP’s + community orgs in the ACT?

Always nice to see personal attacks on staff and nitpicking about products which probably cost about two cents per unit and may have been donated anyway. I am happy to pay taxes to support organisations which protect the vulnerable and that includes animals – I would like to see RSPCA getting a bigger share. If they were adequately funded to provided education and information to the community, maybe they could do themselves out of a job altogether as the animals they care for are there through no fault of their own.

I’d be happy for the RSPCA and Wildlife Carer Groups to receive government funding. The RSPCA does a great job with very little financial fund. As thatsnotme said, carers are up all hours of the night caring for these precious native animals.

neanderthalsis9:10 am 27 Oct 10

GardeningGirl said :

I did wonder who paid for the freebies they were handing out at the Canberra Show a year or two ago, keyrings or something I think.

It is not uncommon for businesses to donate products to charities. An NFP I worked for in QLD some years ago occasionally had a corporate supplies company donate branded pens and stationery to us.

It is a sad indictment on society when we have such a high level of cynicism about charities who do great work.

GardeningGirl10:25 pm 26 Oct 10

I did wonder who paid for the freebies they were handing out at the Canberra Show a year or two ago, keyrings or something I think.

My wife was a volunteer for RSPCA wildlife. Orphaned possums were what we end up with more often than not – sometimes tiny little things that needed to be fed at all hours of the night, curled up in a knitted woolen pouch inside a basket next to the bed, heat pad running. When they were older, they’d go outside into an aviary, fed fresh fruit and veges every day, and when they were older branches from native trees and bushes (they love flowering wattle and gum!)

Then there were the birds…magpies, cockatoos, wattle birds, gallahs…we’d normally get those when whichever volunteer had the after hours mobile phone would call, often the result of the bird being hit by a car. The phone was done on a roster, and when you had the phone you could take calls from the public at any time after hours (including the entire weekend) and it was your job to try to contact a volunteer in the area so that the caller could drop of the injured animal to be cared for. That job got really hard when there was no volunteer available… Normally, people were good about dropping animals to us, but there were always the people who wouldn’t, or couldn’t. Then if the animal needed care you couldn’t provide, needed assessment, or to be humanely euthanaised, it was up to use to drive it to the shelter the next time it was open.

The material support we got from the RSPCA was limited to specialist formula for the baby possums, crates for transportation, a box to attach to a tree when they were eventually released, and if you were lucky the use of an aviary to house them. All the food and transportation costs were bourne by us – and let me tell you, a juvenile possum eats quiet a bit of fruit and veg each day!

From what I’ve seen,the RSPCA, especially the wildlife side, operates on the smell of an oily rag. The facility they work out of is no more than a cottage. God knows what the alternative would be if they weren’t providing this service…I’m pretty sure our city rangers aren’t resourced to be our wildlife caring organisation.

Furthermore, Phoenix, you’re a tool.

For the record I don’t drive at all and have never held a license. Secondly I donate about 10% of my meagre RSPCA pre tax gross salary to RSPCA. Thirdly if 5% of canberras public servants donated $2 per week to RSPCA our government funding needs would be eliminated.

Michael Linke
CEO RSPCA ACT

georgesgenitals8:04 pm 26 Oct 10

Perhaps we could take some money from those lazy, overpaid teachers we keep hearing about.

Phoenix J said :

Why doesn’t Michael Linke donate some of his own money im sure he earns enough, or he might need that money to refuel his Mercedes he drives around in

Linke probably earns less than you do in your cushy public service job with no responsibility. Needless to say he could probably earn a hell of a lot more elsewhere.

I’m a public servant, I might work for free tomorrow to help ease our national debt…..idiot.

Phoenix, if you are the CEO of a charity/not for profit organisation and are paid a wage, would you then give the said organisation money back from your paypacket??
I certainly would not expect Mr Linke to do so bearing in mind that he gives his time outside working hours to promote the various RSPCA events held each year.

Further, it’s an Audi, not a Merc.

Oscillate Wildly7:26 pm 26 Oct 10

Phoenix, we are all stupider for having read that comment.

Why doesn’t Michael Linke donate some of his own money im sure he earns enough, or he might need that money to refuel his Mercedes he drives around in

Hells_Bells746:51 pm 26 Oct 10

Give ’em a bunch! With my blessing.

Katy reckon she has some surplus, right? Doesn’t look like it’s gonna come to my wages, so might as well look after animals with it

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