The RSPCA will continue to prosecute Hunting Act breaches and instances of animal cruelty where necessary, the charity insists.
In line with the recommendations of the 2014 Wooler Review, which the charity has been implementing for the past 18 months, however, it will refer cases to other prosecuting authorities first. Jeremy Cooper, chair, hit the headlines this week after accepting that the charity had “got the tone wrong sometimes”.
However, the charity denies media reports that it is no longer going to pursue prosecutions against hunts, and says it is simply implementing the Wooler recommendations. It points to a statement it put out in December, in which it explained: “Following an independent review of our prosecutions work RSPCA trustees agreed to pass cases involving traditional hunts to the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to prosecute, following initial investigation to determine the quality of the evidence.
“Cases involving potential farm prosecutions will be passed to the relevant authority, such as Trading Standards. However in both instances, we reserve the right to proceed with such investigations if either the police, CPS or Trading Standards decline to take the matter up.”
The RSPCA has come under fire in recent years for being over-zealous in its actions and for bringing politically-motivated prosecutions, notably spending £327,000 on a case against the Heythrop Hunt in the prime minister’s constituency.
