RSPCA branch may be forced to shed jobs as income falls

The Hull and East Riding branch of the RSPCA says it only has 16 weeks' running costs left.

The charity, which has been in the city for 105 years, says income has fallen because of the recession, and where it once got six to 10 donations a week it is now lucky to get one.

A "Pound for a Pet" appeal launched last December when the charity, based on Clough Road in the city, first revealed it was struggling, raised 32,000, and its recent Motorbike Show raised 3,500.

However branch manager Lyn Clarke said while the latter was a big help it was "drop in the ocean" when faced with the task of finding 350,000 a year to cover running costs.

Formal consultation began with staff yesterday.

However the branch insists its core task – to support the work carried out by RSPCA inspectors – will continue.

Anne Hilton, deputy chairman of the Hull and East Riding branch, said staff were updated at a meeting last Monday.

She said: "We have introduced a new sickness policy, stopped overtime and changed vets to cut bills and Lyn cut her working week by two days and that has made savings.

"We are limping along at the moment. We are just managing to pay our bills. We don't want to come to a stage where we think 'can we pay our bills?' We have to act now.

"In our annual report we spelled out that we were in a really dire situation.

"In June days before the annual meeting, we brought all the staff together and told them we were in absolutely dire trouble and unless we got in a big amount of money we would have to look at cutting services and costs.

"We asked them to think of ways of fundraising. But it's not improved, it's getting worse.

"If we don't get some big cash in soon as are going to go bankrupt. It is as serious as that."

She added: "The trustees are absolutely devastated that we are even having to think along these lines. Many of the staff have been here a long time. As a local charity we are a family."

In recent times the centre has been filled by animals referred by inspectors, either because their owners were being prosecuted or because they had been identified as potential cases of neglect. Many need months of expensive medical treatment.

While it is still managing to find homes for cats and rabbits, not as many people are willing to adopt dogs, and some animals are having to stay at the centre for more than a year.

In the past three years the charity has been able to borrow some 245,000 from the national society, knowing that the money is due in from legacies, but there are no more in the pipeline.

Mrs Clarke, who will be retiring next year, said: "Virtually everything that is coming in is generated by the inspectors because of the problems they encounter with the animals through cruelty or neglect.

"If an animal is signed over to us, if we become the owner and it needs medical assistance that is also costing us."

She added: "The recession is still biting very heavily in Hull, and sadly the recession is biting for individuals who maybe support animal charities."

Each branch of the RSPCA is a separately registered charity and responsible for its own running costs. The centre in Hull has 18 full and part-time staff and many volunteers.