RSPCA sparks row over Scottish drive

The Scottish Society for The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has launched a ferocious attack on the RSPCA for allegedly stealing its financial support in Scotland.

The charity claimed its English and Welsh counterpart, the RSPCA, is deliberately misleading Scottish people into believing it saves Scottish animals in order to solicit donations.

In a strongly worded statement the Scottish SPCA chief executive accuses the RSPCA of “stealing food from the mouths of Scotland’s defenceless animals” after carrying out a membership campaign in Scottish supermarkets and advertising on Scottish radio stations.

The RSPCA has vehemently denied it has carried out any specific campaigns in Scotland and has hit back at the Scottish SPCA for failing British animal lovers by focusing on in-fighting.

“The British public, whether in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland expects charities to collaborate and co-operate, and during these difficult economic times it makes even less sense for charities to attack each other,” it says in a reactive statement.

Industry observers have moved to condemn the SPCA’s decision to launch a public attack. Charity fundraising expert Joe Saxton, who is also head of market research agency NFP Synergy and a former RSPCA trustee, says it is “strange” the SPCA is drawing attention to its “failed marketing”.

“If the SPCA wanted to call attention to the fact its marketing is failing it has done the right thing,” he says. NFP Synergy research shows the SPCA lags behind the RSPCA in unprompted awareness of animal welfare charities among Scottish people.