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Annual review 2023
OTHER NEWS
Fighting for dogs unfairly targeted International roundup
A new law is set to help
reunite lost, injured or
stolen cats with their
owners. From June 2024,
all owned cats will have
to be microchipped. As
well as reuniting cats with
their owners more quickly
we hope this law will also
help tackle welfare issues,
such as abandonments.
We were quick to react - in unison with the Dog Control
Coalition - to the Government's decision to ban XL bully
dogs. Once again, dogs are being targeted because of their
breed, continuing a flawed approach that has not protected
people from attacks. Tragically, fatalities as a result of dog
incidents have continued, despite legislation already in
place making it illegal to own certain types of dogs.
We agree urgent action is needed, but we believe there
are better ways to keep people safe.
We continue to meet with Defra, to get clarity so we can
support people affected by the ban and to give feedback
about its impact on rescue and veterinary organisations.
We're also meeting officials in Scotland and Northern Ireland
to find ways to minimise or avoid the ban in those countries.
In another busy year for our international
team, we kept animal welfare firmly on the
worldwide agenda.
To expand our work in the EU and beyond,
we opened an RSPCA Europe office in Brussels.
We provided animal welfare insights at a
workshop for 12 Western Balkan countries
in our continuing work with the World
Organisation for Animal Health.
To help improve the lives of farmed
animals around the world, we participated
in three farmed animal welfare science
conferences in China and co-hosted an
event at the UN's first Global Livestock
Transformation Conference in Rome.
To support animal welfare in Taiwan and
Japan, we continued our training for animal
protection inspectors there.
To promote animal welfare education
in China, we reached 300 teachers with
six days of training.
Keeping
cats safe
2023 RSPCA Young Photographer Awards
Our annual Young Photographer Awards ceremony took place at the Tower of
London, hosted by TV presenter and RSPCA President Chris Packham. The overall
winning shot was eight-year-old Jamie Smart's amazing image of her turkey
Frederick, looking through the bars of his cage during the bird flu epidemic.
"It looked like he was in prison," said Jamie. "I wanted to show the beauty of his
feathers' iridescent shine, which people don't often get to see. When the restrictions
were lifted, we let him out again to roam free in our wooded area."
This year's competition is open now - go to: young.rspca.org.uk
To view the winning images - go to: young.rspca.org.uk/galleries
From volunteer to career
After volunteering for his local RSPCA branch, Tom Hall
provided vital support as one of our animal rescue
volunteers - now he's training to be an RSPCA inspector.
"As a volunteer, I freed up inspectors' time by collecting
animals, helping with rescues or advising the public so
inspectors could get to more animals in need," says Tom.
IN 2023 OUR INSPECTORATE
RESPONDED TO 111,654 INCIDENTS.