RSPCA Infiltration

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Jo

 

Pro-hunt lobby is plotting to 'hijack' RSPCA

 

Mark Townsend

Sunday May 26, 2002

The Observer

 

Pro-hunt activists are trying to to 'hijack' the Royal Society

for the

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the largest animal

charity in the

world.

 

A group of candidates with close links to the fox-hunting

fraternity have

been put forward as candidates for the society's ruling council.

Senior

sources at the charity believe that the move is part of a

strategy by the

pro-hunt lobby to overturn the society's opposition to hunting,

which it

condemns as 'horrific'.

 

The society last week sent a warning to its 43,000 members along

with their

election voting papers warning them to beware of impostors, the

first time

in its 177-year history that it has resorted to such drastic

action. The

letter, signed by council chairman Michael Tomlinson, says that

the charity

is 'at risk of infiltration from people who may not have the

best interests

of animal welfare and the RSPCA at heart', but it does not

reveal their

identities.

 

The voting papers contain the details of 12 candidates, none of

whom

declares an interest in fox-hunting. However, inquiries by The

Observer

reveal that four of these candidates are keen pro-hunt

supporters - one

belongs to a hunt. All are farmers and all joined the RSPCA in

1996.

 

Candidate Charles Llewellen Palmer, from Cheltenham, is

supported by the

Cotswold Hunt - one of his signatories is the hunt secretary,

Chris Adams.

 

Another pro-hunting candidate is Peter Fitzgerald from

Wincanton, Somerset,

who, according to a man backing his election campaign - John

Rawlins from

Dorset - is a member of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt.

 

Rawlins - who retired from the hunt last season - added: 'Peter

believes in

the traditional values of welfare before there was any political

correctness. Hunting has become a more emotive issue. The RSPCA

and the

hunting fraternity, who once shared the same agenda, are

increasingly

drifting apart.'

 

Another candidate, Alexander Mason from Bibury in

Gloucestershire, confessed

to being 'a pro-hunt supporter'.

 

Organic farmer Simon Tomlinson from Tetbury, Gloucestershire, is

the final

pro-hunting representative seeking a seat on the council. He

said foxes 'do

need controlling' and accused the society of 'hijacking' the

issue to

broaden its public appeal. 'We feel their public stance has

alienated the

rural community. We want to examine some of the measures within

the RSPCA,'

he added.

 

A society source said this weekend that advocating hunting with

hounds would

be 'unthinkable'. 'We have become extremely concerned they are

attempting to

hijack us. How can fox-hunting not be considered cruel?'

 

The council has 25 members, with five positions coming up for

re-election

each year. It is responsible for an annual income of about 66

million, of

which donations constitute about 18m.

 

RSPCA officials believe the pro-hunt lobby wants to pack the

council until

they possess a ruling majority, a move that which could

seriously undermine

the guidelines of the charity.

 

A society source added: 'We also believe it is no coincidence

that a flurry

of pro-hunt supporters are attempting to get elected onto the

council.'

 

Members cannot stand for election until they have held

membership for five

years, which fuels suspicions that the 'hijack' has been

carefully

orchestrated, with four hunt supporters joining during the same

period in

1996.

 

Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of the League Against Cruel

Sports, said:

'Persons seeking election to a democratic charity like the RSPCA

should make

it clear they support something that is entirely incompatible

with the

values of the society.' He confirmed that the four candidates

concerned were

known to the league as passionate hunt supporters.

 

The revelations arrive amid uncertainty over the future of

hunting, with

pro-hunt campaigners saying jobs will be lost if it is banned.

Such a ban

was overwhelmingly backed in a free vote of the House of

Commons, but the

House of Lords voted for licensed hunts. The Government has yet

to pick

which legislation to propose.

 

 

 

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