Miserableolgit

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyv381edvg9o "Wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham and former Green Party MP Caroline Lucas have quit as president and vice-president of the RSPCA after a campaign group alleged animal cruelty at some of the charity's approved list of abattoirs. Animal Rising released footage from facilities as part of its investigation into the RSPCA's "Assured Scheme" which certifies farms, food producers and food retailers that meet its specific animal welfare standards. In response, the RSPCA said it takes allegations of poor animal welfare "incredibly seriously". The charity said it was "simply not true" that it had not taken urgent action, adding unannounced visits had been significantly increased, and use of bodyworn cameras and CCTV was also being explored. In its most recent investigation, Animal Rising singled out four abattoirs where it said "experts found systemic animal cruelty". It said its investigators had found that "in one slaughterhouse 85% of pigs were stunned incorrectly, leaving animals conscious during slaughter, and in another 96% of cows were prodded with an electric goad, a practice banned by the RSPCA, and 46% of cows showed clear signs of panic or escape behaviours. "There was also frequent verbal and physical abuse from workers, and animals watching in terror and panic as other animals were killed or stunned in front of them." In a statement posted on Animal Rising's website, Packham said he was prioritising his "love for animals above all else" and was stepping down immediately, following the "irrefutable evidence of abuse uncovered". He accused the RSPCA of making "no meaningful change" after "years of raising concerns about salmon farming and tirelessly pushing for reform within the Assured Schemes". "I believe the charity has lost sight of its mandate to protect all animals from cruelty and suffering," he added. In a separate statement, Lucas said: "The recent horrific revelations of abuse at RSPCA-approved slaughterhouses, filmed undercover by Animal Rising, were the final straw for me. "The systemic cruelty exposed was unbearable to witness. "While the RSPCA's response was to suspend the implicated facilities and launch yet another investigation, they failed to confront the deeper flaws of the scheme itself. "This approach not only fails to uphold their own standards but also risks misleading the public and legitimising cruelty." In a statement, the RSPCA said: "We agree with Chris and Caroline on so many issues and have achieved so much together for animals but we differ on how best to address the incredibly complex and difficult issue of farmed animal welfare. "We have discussed our work to drive up farmed animal welfare standards openly at length with them on many occasions and it is simply not true that we have not taken urgent action. "We took allegations of poor welfare incredibly seriously, launching an independent review of 200 farms which concluded that it was 'operating effectively' to improve animal welfare. "We are taking strong steps to improve oversight of welfare, implementing the recommendations in full including significantly increasing unannounced visits, and exploring technology such as bodyworn cameras and CCTV, supported by £2m of investment."

I used to buy a lot from the USA, customs charges if items were sent via US mail and turned over to UK post. were applied randomly. Nowadays electronic scanning means that goods over a modest value have charges applied as a matter of course. Much depends on what the sender states the items are and the right code is entered on the declaration docs. However the authorities do have a handle on current item values, and of course have internet access to research them too. For high value items I reckon on paying charges at least 1/4 of the total of the declared / actual value of the shipment. Another anachronism of Parcelforce is the fact that your items are valued for customs charges centrally then forwarded to your regional depot. They will then send you a letter detailing the charges, you then pay these online (or at your regional depot) after which they will release the item for delivery to you.

Bit blowy here in S. Norfolk this evening but it's subsiding now. Nothing to write home about here really. Rain most of the day though, our land was already a tad wet. I remember walking the woods after the storm in October '87 looking for damage to the pens, checking wires, traps etc and finding disoriented birds all over the shop. I remember my old chap opening the back door back door the winter of 63/62 to find a solid wall of snow from top to bottom which continued along the porch, around the corner and out the back. The shovels etc were in the shed which was cut off so tools were borrowed from somewhere or other.

Good luck MM!

Cracking shooting.

Brilliant day, lovely dog 👍🏼

I enjoyed that immensely.

Thank you for your comprehensive and much appreciated insight. I will read it again and digest it over a coffee later this morning. Thanks to all for the kind comments.

Many thanks. We are just back from the vet, it was their turn to change dressing and assess, our turn Thursday. Photo taken this afternoon is a bit more acceptable and less gruesome. This is after dressing off, saline wash to clean the manuka honey and dry prior to fresh honey and bandaging. The pink parts are all new tissue growth. While it does look puffy that is due to being enclosed in honey and dressings plus just having been washed. She will loose that last claw but the hope is tissue regrowth will continue and will recover the remaining exposed features at the end of the toes.

No, not AR. I think I mentioned bloods were normal inc kidney function. AR usually causes kidney issues and is usually fatal pretty quickly.

Yes she is a nice little thing, I have grown very fond of her right from where she came and sat right next to me when I initially went to see her.

Yep, as I thought, this has developed into a virtually identical debate to those on the same subject we had back in school in the days when a ten bob note was still legal tender.

Posting this here for information and to see if anyone else has encountered anything similar - in any breed. This is rather a long story so bear with me.. I took on a just turned six year old ESS bitch back in May as her elderly owner could no longer cope working her. She settled down quickly and fitted in with our other spaniels and labs well. Unfortunately she went down with pyometra in October so went in to the vet to be spayed. The op was a success and she came out looking bright but the following week her temperature was all over the place so she had to go back in to go on IV antibiotics etc for a couple of days. The same day she came out she developed a limp in a foreleg while going for a short on lead walk and toilet break along our farm track. I couldn’t see any issues with the foot or leg, no thorns, puncture wounds, cuts. Joints all good and no pain evident - nor could the vet when she went in for another post op check two or three days later. The limp and lameness persisted to the extent that she did not want to use that foot. No swelling or heat. A small blister appeared on the main pad which tore revealing pink flesh underneath. I cleaned the area with dilute Hibiscrub and it dried and scabbed as normal. She was still on the post pyometra op antibiotics at this stage. Four days later a pinkish non smelling fluid appeared from a small hole that also suddenly appeared in the flesh between two toes. That happened late on a Sunday evening, I cleaned it up with an antibacterial wash and put her to bed in her cage. Next morning the skin on a large part of the foot, pads etc had turned grey and the hole had got got bigger, the whole thing smelled foul, just like decayed flesh. I whizzed her back to the vet who took swabs of the foot which had worsened in the 45 mins it took to get to the practice. In fact the swab went right through the foot from one side to the other it had decayed that much. They kept her in on IV antibiotics and the vet suggested I get the swab to the lab rather than wait for the courier as time was obviously of the essence. So I left the dog there and drove fairly rapidly in order for them to get cultures started asap. Fortunately the antibiotics meant the decay did not spread up the leg but they kept her in isolation as the cause was unknown. Three days later the lab reported that three nasty bacteria were involved: Pseudomonas spp. Enterococcus spp. Escerichia coli. They recommending a cocktail of antibiotics - which she has been on until a few days ago. As the dog was not eating she was given nutrition via IV so we agreed that she come home to see if she would eat but that the foot would require dressing and topical medication changes every three days. We would do one then back to the vet for the next and assessment etc etc. This has now been extended to weekly dressing changes with the foot no longer treated with Intrasite but medical grade manuka honey. She recently had biopsies taken and sent to the lab for analysis but a week on they are saying they found nothing conclusive and need to do more tests. Ho hum. We have been taking pictures of the foot at every stage but I won’t share the initial ones as frankly they are horrific with exposed bone, ligaments, rotten pads and dead flesh. The vet has no idea what the cause was, I have never experienced anything like it in 60+ years of owning dogs. There have been many suggestions such as snake, rodent or insect bite but that is unlikely as she was on one short lead walk after the op and there were no signs of any puncture wounds anywhere. She was not in contact with any chemicals or polluted ground. Wasn’t a thorn or grass seed, there was no visible signs of infection. Not Alabama Rot as that usually attacks the kidneys and is normally fatal. Bloods show her kidneys are fine - it really is a total mystery. Having said that I understand there are very rare cases of a genetic disorder affecting tiny numbers of spaniels that causes necrosis or tissue dieback. Who knows, hopefully the biopsies will show something - although nothing reported yet. She is a lovely dog and was a good worker and didn’t cost me a penny but the current vet bills have been somewhat eye watering! The dog is bright eyed and happy, eating, drinking and toileting as normal. I did consider having the leg amputated but the foot is responding to treatment and new flesh has started to grow but it’s far from over yet. Our other dogs here as as per normal. Anyone seen or heard of anything similar? went down with pyometra back in October so went in to be spayed. She came out looking bright but her temperature was all over the place the following week and had to go back in to go on IV antibiotics etc. She came out but developed a limp the same day which persisted for a few days. I couldn’t see any issues with the foot or leg, nor could the vet when she went in for her post op check. A few days later a pinkish non smelling fluid appeared from a small hole between two toes. That happened late on a Sunday evening, I cleaned it up with an antibacterial wash and put her to bed in her cage. Next morning the skin on a large parge of the foot, pads etc had turned grey and the hole had got got bigger, the whole thing smelled of decayed flesh. Whizzed her back to the vet who took swabs of the foot which had worsened greatly in the 45 mins it took to get to the practice. In fact the swab went right through the foot from one side to the other it had decayed that much. They kept her in on IV antibiotics and the vet suggested I get the swab to the lab rather than wait for the courier as time was obviously of the essence. So I left the dog there, drove from Wymondham to Harleston fairly rapidly in order for them to get cultures started asap. Fortunately the antibiotics meant the decay did not spread up the leg but they had to keep the dog in isolation as the cause was unknown. Three days later the lab reported that three nasty bacteria were involved recommending a cocktail of antibiotics - which she has been on until a few days ago. As the pup was not eating she was given nutrition via IV so we agreed that she come home to see if she would eat but that the foot would require dressing and topical medication changes every three days. We would do one then back to the vet for the next and assesment etc etc. This has now been extended to weekly dressing changes with the foot no longer treated with stuff called Intrasite but medical grade manuka honey. She recently had biopsies taken and sent to the lab for analysis but a week on they are saying they found nothing conclusive and need to do more tests. Ho hum. We have been taking pictures of the foot at every stage but I won’t share them with you as frankly the earlier ones are horrific with exposed bone, ligaments, rotten pads and dead flesh. The vet has no idea what the cause was, I have never experienced anything like it nor have people in any of the big spaniel / gundog groups either. Could have been a snake or insect bite but that is unlikeley as she was on short lead walks after the op only. Wasn’t a thorn or grass seed as there was no signs of infection. Not Alabama Rot as that usually attacks the kidneys and is normally fatal. Millie’s bloods show her kidneys are fine - it really is a total mystery! Having said that there are very rare cases of a genetic disorder affecting tiny numbers of spaniels that causes necrosis or tissue dieback. Who knows! We had Flynn castrated in early October as one of his nuts hadn’t descended, that was £600+, then Millie had to be spayed and treated for pyometra, that was another £600 then this foot thing has added about another grand. I hate to think what the latest lab biopsy tests are going to be. That said she is a lovely dog that didn’t cost me a penny as Fred could no longer work any of his dogs due to old age. It looks as though the foot is responding to treatment and new flesh is starting to grow but it’s far from over yet.

Ten Bob, proper money.

My bladder needing to be emptied woke me this morning.