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Rspca Withdraws Cruelty Charges Against Kim Hollingsworth


Aphra
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Someone should call the rspca and tell them there is a dog with a docked tail in the paddock, they'll be there in no time!

That might work actually! Maybe drop in the word "debarked" while you're there!

I forgot debarking, and to guarantee their appearance also say there is a dog show happening :laugh: Cannot fail, it works 100% of the time :thumbsup:

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hollingsworth has been a known problem for some time, as far as I can gather the difficulty with prosecuting her is that she has a very good knowledge of the law and exploits the loopholes, she keeps horses in many different paddocks (not owned by her) and moves them around so that their deterioration cannot be easily and accurately documented.

Quite simply she is a wily snake and has managed to evade capture because she takes advantage of the fact that the RSPCA is by and large ill suited for the task it has been charged with, ie as a proxy for government in animal welfare. They will not spend money and resources on a case which is not simple and easy to win, Hollingsworth has garnered support through FB and other channels and knows how to dodge the system, as a result the RSPCA cannot guarantee a quick easy prosecution. Last thing I heard was that the charges were dropped against her in return for her surrendering a number of horses to them, as I understand it, it was going to be difficult to get charges to stick (for the above reasons) and they considered it better to save at least some than risk it going pear shaped and not be able to help any.

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What I can't understand is what is in it for her - if she doesn't want to take proper care of the horses, which she obviously doesn't, then why not hand them over to a legitimate horse rescue organisation. Surely seeing them slowly starve to death would not be giving her much pleasure.

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It may be similar to people who hoard animals. They believe that they are "saving" the animals and don't see that the conditions they are keeping them in are often much worse than what they "rescued" them from. It's now been recognised as a mental illness.

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What I can't understand is what is in it for her - if she doesn't want to take proper care of the horses, which she obviously doesn't, then why not hand them over to a legitimate horse rescue organisation. Surely seeing them slowly starve to death would not be giving her much pleasure.

Hoarders don't generally have an objective view of their activities, add this to the adulation she (and others) garners using the 'rescuer' moniker and you get someone whose perception is at odds with the reality.

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What I can't understand is what is in it for her - if she doesn't want to take proper care of the horses, which she obviously doesn't, then why not hand them over to a legitimate horse rescue organisation. Surely seeing them slowly starve to death would not be giving her much pleasure.

Hoarders don't generally have an objective view of their activities, add this to the adulation she (and others) garners using the 'rescuer' moniker and you get someone whose perception is at odds with the reality.

^ this

IMHO FB has spawned a drastic increase in the enabling of hoarders. I'm not referring to this event in particular.

Tufts are researching animal hoarding and the most successful ways of dealing with the issue.

As in this case, leaving it to be solely dealt with by one org and prosecuting the hoarder on animal welfare grounds without any other kind of intervention just doesn't work. You can't stop a hoarder by taking them to court and telling them not to do it again.

http://vet.tufts.edu/hoarding/intervention.htm

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:offtopic: The RSPCA are obviously uninterested in these cattle as well:

l http://www.gympietim...furore/2134431/

Curra 'animal cruelty' furore

GGT_09-01-2014_EGN_03_GYM080114animalcruelty76_t460.jpg DISTRESSING: Lynne Partridge with one of the underfed cattle on an absent neighbour's Curra property and (inset) another of the starving beasts. Tanya Easterby EIGHT hungry cattle and one goat were sharing a tiny paddock of woody stubble and dust at Curra yesterday.

They had problems of their own, including thirst and hunger, and were unaware of the mini-furore that has erupted over their welfare.

The issue has involved angry neighbours, police, the RSPCA, an accused Darling Downs "bogan," a wild emu and a Brisbane man said to have been away on holidays while his nine cattle and two goats suffered in a "three and-a-half acre" enclosure.

Neighbours said they had been forced to obtain police permission to cut a chain on the paddock gate, so cattle stuck in mud could be dragged out.

Another animal had died, two of its hoofs left sticking out of the shallow layer of clay used to cover its corpse.

But the RSPCA had said it could do nothing to help the animals or prosecute the owner, according to neighbours in Settlement Rd.

"The RSPCA doesn't seem to care," one of those neighbours, Lynne Partridge, said yesterday.

"An inspector came out and said there was nothing they could do.

"I told them never to ask me for another donation."

A spokesman for the RSPCA denied the organisation was uninterested.

"We've been out there twice," he said.

Ms Partridge said she had been told there was nothing that could be done, a contrast with the organisation's readiness to criticise the Darling Downs man, currently being prosecuted for cruelty after freeing an emu from a barbed wire fence.

His offence was to take a mobile phone "selfie", pretending to ride the bird, before letting it go and posting the video on Facebook.

RSPCA media officer

Michael Beatty said the comparison did not show inconsistency in RSPCA enforcement of animal cruelty laws, because the Darling Downs man was being prosecuted by the police, not the RSPCA.

The Brisbane-based owner of the cattle at Curra told The Gympie Times he was aware of the problem and that he was taking urgent action to find extra pasture and was feeding them regularly in the meantime.

"I dropped three bales of hay off (on Tuesday) and we've had the RSPCA out," he told The Gympie Times.

"Thank you for the call, but I will look after my cattle."

Ms Partridge said the man had been absent while cattle went hungry in a dust and stubble enclosure, with eight cattle and one goat on only about 2ha or less.

The animals had no feed yesterday and had become shy of drinking from the property's dam, because its level had dropped and two of them had become stuck in mud.

Another had died and had been buried in the bank of the dam, which is in a watercourse.

Another neighbour who did not want to be named said they had to ring the police to get permission to cut the chain on the gate.

"So Lynne could pull out the calf that was stuck," he said.

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A fiend of mine is still traumatised about her cat and the RSPCA's lack of response in pursuing the person who ordered his dog to attack and kill it. He even took photos. There were independent witnesses to the event, car rego details, dog and man details and the attack happened on a public street in the daylight but the RSPCA say there was insufficient evidence to go after anyone. Sometimes you have to wonder how much evidence they need and hearing the stories above you have to wonder at their definition of suffering.

And I still haven't forgotten the RSPCA officer who when I was seeking assistance to rehome some goats in kid left on my sister's farm after she had been removed from it threatened that my sister would be charged with neglect if she didn't do something for the goats (even though legally she wasn't allowed on the property any more, they couldn't be moved because they were in kid and they didn't have a roof over their heads let alone another farm for the goats to go to). So it's ok to be a hoarder, neglect animals and be given repeated assistance to address concerns that can never be addressed but if you find yourself in a difficult situation and proactively seek help to avoid any concerns even occurring you are chastised and threatened. Good on you RSPCA.

I often wonder how many independent rescue groups would be necessary if the RSPCA did the job the public 'thinks' they do? There are probably thousands of dog rescue groups established around the country and on top of that you have rescue and rehab for cats, horses, marsupials, sea life, reptiles and even chickens! All are running on the smell of an oily rag filling a void, while the RSPCA is operating on millions and saving far less of those all creatures great and small than the public think. How did this happen? Having seen some ugly sights in dog rescue I don't even buy that the RSPCA sees the worst cases and hence has higher overheads and lower rehome rates. Independent rescue is picking up the pieces that traditionally the RSPCA and local council should be doing. Why should caring neighbours be cutting fences and saving other people's animals? In a disaster (such as the Bundaberg floods) why isn't the RSPCA the go to org? Instead it is individuals organising and donating food from outside the affected area, liaising with a rescue group inside the affected area to make it happen on the ground. Then there are the media headline grabbing cruelty cases that do make it to court. The sentences given to offenders are light, the public are outraged, the RSPCA again threatens to pursue mandatory sentencing but due to limited resources the outrage on all sides continues. Here in Qld they got a new Act in 2001 but apparently it still isn't good enough! As our national body mandated to investigate and prosecute I would rather they spend all the donations they raise (have you see how many ways you can donate simply from their home page?) doing what no-one else can do and at least do that one thing properly. Grow some balls and pull in the reins. Stop moaning about how you need the public's constant money help and get on with it! I'm getting tired of the carry on and can no longer support it.

Edited by Little Gifts
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Hollingsworth has been a known problem for some time, as far as I can gather the difficulty with prosecuting her is that she has a very good knowledge of the law and exploits the loopholes, she keeps horses in many different paddocks (not owned by her) and moves them around so that their deterioration cannot be easily and accurately documented.

Quite simply she is a wily snake and has managed to evade capture because she takes advantage of the fact that the RSPCA is by and large ill suited for the task it has been charged with, ie as a proxy for government in animal welfare. They will not spend money and resources on a case which is not simple and easy to win, Hollingsworth has garnered support through FB and other channels and knows how to dodge the system, as a result the RSPCA cannot guarantee a quick easy prosecution. Last thing I heard was that the charges were dropped against her in return for her surrendering a number of horses to them, as I understand it, it was going to be difficult to get charges to stick (for the above reasons) and they considered it better to save at least some than risk it going pear shaped and not be able to help any.

I just don't get why you'd go to the trouble of moving the animals around. There has to be a serious underlying mental health problem here too - it's almost like she'd hoarding animals. Makes my blood boil to see horses in that condition and new born foals too. grrrrrr

Edited to add - I agree with Little Gifts too. *shakes head*

Edited by Scottsmum
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