Dogsey

The RSPCA is under pressure to drop its right to bring prosecutions after it spent £22.5 million on legal bills over two years.

An independent review that uncovered the cost also showed that the RSPCA has been paying excessive legal fees.

Lawyers were paid up to £1,200 a day in some cases - highter than the amounts paid to state prosecutors in child cruelty cases.

The review was undertaken by Stephen Wooler, a former Chief Inspector of the CPS Inspectorate.

He was asked by the charity to examine its prosecution policy after several controversial cases, including £326,000 spend on one against the Heythrop hunt in David Cameron's constituency.

Although the case was successful, the judge suggested the public might feel the cash 'can be more usefully employed'.

A key recommendation of the report is for the RSPCA to pass cases straight to the police and the CPS, rather than bringing their own prosecutions.

But, two days after the review was published, the charity launched a prosecution against the Cattistock hunt in Dorset. On October 3, a summons was served to Will Bryer, joint master and huntsman, to appear in court later this month.

Wooler's report found that typical RSPCA payments were £90 to £190 an hour for a solicitor to bring a case in the magistrates court, where a day is up five-and-a-half hours, at a total cost of £496 tp £1,045. This excludes hours spent in preparation. By contrast, a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyer is paid from £200 to £250 a day, and this includes preparation time.

Fees were even more generous for barristers hired by the RSPCA, with typical payments of £800 to £1,200 a day.

A shocked Mr Wooler said the cases in question would not qualify for the CPS rate for a category B offence - a category that includes child cruelty.

Fees paid by the RSPCA to lawyers accounted for more than £8 million of the charity's legal costs in 2012 and 2013.

Jonathan Rich, a barrister who has defended hundreds of people prosecuted by the charity, said: 'The RSPCA's largess provides strong financial incentives to advice prosecutions in cases which the CPS would never touch. I've had cases where RSPCA prosecuters have been on more than ten times my fees.'

Tim Bonner, Countryside Alliance director of campaigns, said: 'Charities have a duty to spend donations prudently, but the RSPCA's prosecution is profligate. It would be far better if the RSPCA left prosecution to the CPS, like every other charity.'

The Charity Commission will meet RSPCA chiefs to discuss the findings and an RSPCA spokesman last night confirmed that its legal fees are to be scrutinised.

The report coincides with a turbulent period for the RSPCA which has lost £7 million in donations from supporters incensed by its contentious campaigns.