Did the RSPCA drive a man to suicide?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/colum...icide.html
Alan Brough commited suicide after the RSPCA took his herd of
Shetland ponies, writes Christopher Booker.
By
Christopher Booker
Published: 7:00PM BST 31 Jul 2010
Several times in recent years I have reported on the change which has come over
one of Britain’s richest charities, the RSPCA. Its officials too often seem bent
on harrying genuine animal lovers, luridly misrepresenting alleged cases of
cruelty in order to win the publicity which will keep funds rolling in, to the
tune of some £115 million a year.
Last week I was alerted to a particularly chilling case by the SHG (Self Help
Group, online at the-shg.org), set up to advise animal owners on RSPCA
persecution. It involved Alan Brough, a 68-year-old retired builder from
Newbiggin near the Cumbrian fells. He bought Shetland ponies 30 years ago for
his daughters, who in time outgrew them. Mr Brough released them onto the nearby
moorland of Caldbeck Fell where, thanks to his continued care – which included
rising at five o’clock each morning to bring them hay – they flourished and
became a herd. Eventually the picturesque sight of 90 wild ponies became
something of a tourist attraction and a distinctive feature of that northern
corner of the Lake District.
Eleven days ago, at the instigation of the RSPCA, Mr Brough was arrested at
8.30am and held in custody at Carlisle police station while officials of the
charity put the ponies onto lorries bound for RSPCA-approved sanctuaries. When
Mr Brough was released at 3pm and discovered what had happened, he was,
according to his family, “trance-like”. He drove to a nearby church, then to a
riverbank, where some time later his 18-year-old grand-daughter found him. He
had hanged himself.
The RSPCA issued a statement: “We are saddened by what has happened, and our
thoughts are with Mr Brough’s family.” They offered to return the ponies to his
widow, but then insisted on keeping them, on the grounds that – although there
was no evidence of ill-treatment – the animals might suffer sometime in the
future. Mr Brough was cremated on Friday, The RSPCA were wise to stay away from
his funeral.