Last updated at 15:06, Tuesday, 06 January 2009

An icy wind cuts through the air as we stand in a back garden in Moresby Parks.

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RSPCA inspector Chris Towler is calmly assessing the injuries sustained by a fox, holding it still with a dog handler lead. The animal is thrashing around and fighting to get free, but with such severe injuries his time is running out.

“It looks like he’s been smacked by a car. His head has been separated at the skull, his eyes are all over the place, he isn’t focusing and he has possibly even suffered blindness,” explains Chris.

He goes to his van, returns with two syringes and euthanises the animal. It is a sad sight to an onlooker, but for this inspector, with more than 20 years experience, it is a matter of course.

“I could have taken it to Knoxwood, but it wouldn’t have lasted much longer there,” he says, putting the body in a bag. “The welfare of the fox is prime in my mind, not sentimentality.

“It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the save everything mentality, but you have to be realistic. I get no pleasure from doing euthanasia, but I do get pleasure from doing it well. Everything is done as humanely as possible.”

That is his first job of the day complete, and Chris calls the charity’s voicebank to update it. He also reports where he is going next; working on his own every day it is important his whereabouts are known. Then it’s back on the road, and we drive up towards Aspatria.

As an RSPCA inspector, Chris’s role is similar to that of a detective, requiring him to be patient, remain rational and piece together often random bits of information.

He can clock up hundreds of miles a day, covering a vast and largely rural area, from Carlisle to Penrith and across as far as Nenthead and Hexham. He also patrols the west part of north Cumbria when his colleague is on holiday – hence the visit to Moresby Parks.

When a case is reported, Chris will go and investigate and issue advice if necessary. If the advice isn’t taken, he will return with a welfare notice. Then if the notice isn’t adhered to, action will be taken to remove the animal from the home, though thankfully that happens in less than 10 per cent of cases.

The RSPCA hotline is manned 24 hours a day. The charity never refuses a call and that means they get their fair share of crank calls which inspectors have to follow up.

“Most members of the public phone us for genuine welfare reasons, but we also get called out for malicious reasons,” Chris sighs. “We have no way of knowing until we turn up. Sometimes it’s someone with a grudge to bear, and I can be following the police, ambulance service or even a pizza delivery guy.

“Not only is it a waste of time, but the person will be rattled and you don’t know how they are going to react to you.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Chris, 47, has dealt with hundreds of cases of cruelty throughout his career. “Some stick in my mind because of their enormity; the large scale numbers can be traumatic and can overwhelm you,” he says. “One case involving a single animal that will always stick in my mind is the one at Cleator Moor, when a lurcher pup we found at a house the owner had moved out of weeks before.

“The body had been there so long it was partially liquid, and we had to peel it up off the floor. It was really hard to come to terms with that.

“If the owner had just left the door open it could have at least have got out and wandered the streets and hopefully been found by someone.”

Proving there’s no typical day for an inspector, on the way up the A595 Chris stops the van suddenly to help a pheasant, who is wandering about on the busy road, but soon heads back through the bushes and onto safer ground.

A few miles on we drive up a small country road. Horses are being kept in a field near Aspatria, and it has been alleged they have not been left with enough food. Chris has already left a note to asking the owner to call him, and wants to see if it is still there.

It is. He speaks to a passing horse rider for information about who owns them – more detective work – and checks out the animals. He says they look in okay health and is not too worried about them at the moment, though he will return in a few days.

“Luckily most calls are made before an animal is in a dangerous situation,” Chris says as we drive off. “The majority of cases are perceived problems and the reality is not as bad. But we are grateful for that, otherwise our case load would go through the roof. We would always rather get the calls, and the public are our eyes and ears.”

The next case takes us to an unoccupied premises located north of Carlisle, where two dogs are being kept. When we pull up they are pawing at the window and barking. The door is locked. I comment that they look sad and lonely.

“But how do you know they haven’t been let out this morning, or the owner will be here this evening?” asks Chris. “We don’t know the full situation. You are putting a human head on, which is very often why we get calls. My job is to investigate. I deal with the facts and make sure everything is carried out in a professional manner.”

He puts a notice on the door, asking the person responsible for the feeding and care of the animals to phone the RSPCA, and the door is sealed to show entry or exit.

Dusk is falling as we head back towards Carlisle. The final job of the day is at a house in Carlisle, where a call has been made about an overweight cat. “There is welfare concern when an animal is overweight,” says Chris. “Members of the public often see it as something cuddly, that they are being kind to the animal, but they are not doing the animal any favours. Too much weight puts pressure on the heart and organs.”

Only the daughter is in, and he arranges to call round the next day to see the owner, to give advice about the cat being put on a diet.

Overall, Chris says he wishes that more people realised the responsibility that goes with owning a pet.

“Animal welfare costs, there is no getting away from that,” he says. “We get requests for financial assistance and that is something we provide. There is a small percentage of the public who genuinely can’t afford treatment, but for others it’s because they have a different priority.

“We live in a society where everything is given to us, and people think when it comes to the cost of a pet, someone will bail them out. Animals are too easy to acquire and the public don’t think enough about responsibility.

“They say they can’t afford treatment but they’ll be sitting with five packets of cigarettes, or have just bought their kids another games console. Now I know people want nice things, and I’m not against commercial goods, but if those people get a pet and say they can’t afford the treatment, their priorities are wrong.

“It frustrates me because the public do not have to have pets. It’s a choice, and if you make that choice, accept responsibility for it.”

But although he has good reason to get cynical, he says he manages to keep a positive outlook most of the time.

He adds: “In the main people are good and there is such a large number of animals in good homes. As a nation we have a high regard for animal welfare and I can’t see Britain ever losing that.”

RGibb@cngroup.co.uk

First published at 11:24, Tuesday, 06 January 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk