According to its Deputy Chief executive, the RSPCA’s plan to change its image has not been driven in the slightest by the catastrophically bad press the charity has received in recent months. John Grounds maintains that the makeover is aimed at providing the public with a better understanding of the work the charity does and in particular its role in wildlife conservation and the welfare of farm animals. The only possible response to this news is…yeah, right, John.
Just two months ago, a leaked report produced by the charity’s Deputy Chairman Paul Draycott, talked of a “scary and dangerous lack of planning” at the heart of the body and went on to express concerns that the charity was facing a big challenge in trying to attract new trustees. And, apparently, there is a widespread view in the upper reaches of the RSPCA (one which Draycott shares) that it was being subjected to a campaign of vilification in some sections of the media and that this is being orchestrated by the Countryside Alliance.
Oddly Drake’s report made no mention whatsoever of the negative impact of the immensely costly errors made by the charity in pursuing legal actions against huntsman; actions which many neutral observers in the media have labelled as political and the courts as ill judged. Draycott’s report taken along with the changes outlined by Grounds, could hint that the days of current Chief Executive Gavin Grant may well be numbered.
When it recently responded to reports of low morale and redundancies among staff, the charity issued a statement in which it said work was “underway to look how (it) might help its hardworking staff without incurring unstainable cost”. In this light RSPCA trustees may well be looking at Grant’s £160,000 salary and wondering how much better it might be spent elsewhere!