RSPCA Clinic Closing Down 4th May

I thought people might like to know that it sounds as though the clinic will shortly be able to reopen:

<a href="http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=NewsFeature&articleId=1213709352285&marker=1">The RSPCA is appealing for volunteers to help relaunch its local branch in Romford, Essex</a>, after lack of funds forced the branch´s clinic to close in May of this year.

The RSPCA clinic in Romford, commonly known as, ´Campbell Clinic´, was offering reduced price veterinary treatment to animals belonging to people on benefits, until financial and administrative reasons forced its closure.

Now, thanks to a grant from RSPCA national headquarters and generous donations from members of the public, the RSPCA Essex Havering and Harold Hill Branch is starting to reopen, but first a team of volunteers needs to be recruited.

Group of dedicated volunteers now needed
Greg Brown, an RSPCA branch development adviser (BDA), said: "We are looking to relaunch the committee and would like to get together a dynamic group of volunteers.

"The volunteers will need to help us set up and run the clinic, raise money, volunteer in the branch shop, and assist with our valuable animal rehoming and fostering work."

Greg added: "We know that there is strong local feeling and support for this branch, so we are asking for people to come forward and offer their time to get the clinic, branch and other branch activities up and running again."

Do you want to be part of this dynamic team?
Anyone interested in offering some of their time to help the RSPCA´s work in the area is asked to contact Greg Brown on 07715 540555.

A branch meeting will be held on Wednesday, 6 August and new volunteers will be invited.

Thank you for your generosity and support
The branch would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the public not only for their generous donations, but for their invaluable support and commitment to getting the branch reopened.

Sharon if you could email me i'm sure i could help you out.

Brenda - you might be interested to know that RSPCA minimum welfare standards for branches say that we should be able to provide at least some help for any species of animal which is kept as a domestic pet. The footnote to this says that this is something we should aim to aspire to but that we should also recognise our limitations if we don't have suitable facilities and/or expertise.

Hi. We do (sorry that should be did) take in other animals small birds, all parrots, rabbits etc and while we were able to take these in, in small numbers we haven't got the facilities to have a large number of other animals. So we tend to concentrate mainly on cats & dogs, as this is what we do best and the rehoming figures show this. I agree, in an ideal world we could take in any animal but unfortunately and especially the way things are with funds at the moment we have to stick to what we know.
I changed we do - to we did, at the beginning of this but we WILL be back! As with the Clinic there are dedicated volunteers at the Kennels who have one focus & that is to get the Branch (which is both the Clinic & the Kennels) back on it's feet. Hopefully with everyone putting their heads together and working together it will be sooner rather than later. As I said previously we are planning fundraising but this side of it is new to us so if any other volunteers out there want to join or just put forward ideas, we'd love to hear from you. Thanks.

Hi can we also say its not just cats and dogs that need new homes but all animals perhaps in the future it would be better that their is a rehomeing centre for all animals.

Hi
The kennels had said they will try to keep the RSPCA block empty for us, but obviously they are losing regular income by us not using them. We are concerned that if this goes on too long we may run the risk of losing some, if not all the kennels/cat pens that were allocated to us.
The other thing we have to take into account is not just the boarding of the animal, it's the cost of vaccination, neutering and any other vet treatment etc. These costs can be large due to the fact we take in unwanted animals in a neglected condition or in poor health. We all want and need the rehoming to continue as already this week our local paper has reported the dog warden has had 15 stray dogs dumped that he has had to go and collect. This number can only increase if there is no where for the public to take unwanted animals for rehoming.
We are pulling together and plan to do a summer of fund raising, so if anyone has any ideas please get in touch. Thanks for your support

Thirded. Presumably the kennels will continue as a business even if the RSPCA block is closed so it ought to be possible to get some rehoming going again as soon as there's enough money to pay boarding fees?

opps meant "hear hear"!!!

Here here!

Hi, I have read all the comments regarding the closure of the Campbell Clinic and would like to add another angle of this issue. The Havering & Harold Hill Branch includes the Clinic in question and also the rescue rehoming centre in Orsett. It is not only the clinic that has had to close, but also the Rehoming Centre. I have been a volunteer at the Kennels for the past 11 years and never in my wildest dreams did I think it would close, after all the RSPCA have been at the same Kennels for the past 30+ years! I fully appreciate people being upset because they are going to lose their vet & low cost treatment, but please spare a thought for the animals that do not have caring owners - where are they going to go now?! I read in earlier comments about the committee not caring, I can assure you all that everyone on the committee is there because they do care, they are all new members and have been left to pick up the mess when they could have so easily walked away. Unlike the clinic they were given 4 days notice that all the animals in the kennels would be removed! We treat these animals as we would our own, and I can only imagine how hard it was for the members of the committee who had to attend and watch while the cats & dogs we cared for were put in cars, vans & baskets to be 'relocated'! Don't get me wrong they all went to other centres who would care for them as we did, but it's very hard going to the kennels and seeing the RSPCA dog block & cattery empty! Somewhere along the way the Clinic & Rehoming seems to have split apart, we need to get it back together as one and put the energy to good use and raise money so that we can all get up & running again.