Read about this in the paper.

I've been wondering what really happened too. Why do many dogs? I'm sure the RSPCA will have trouble homing them all.

I very much doubt that. I, probably like many others, spoke to someone at the RSPCA yesterday and they said when the time comes for rehoming them, they will probably be distributed throughout the country, and I would imagine that they would have been inundated with calls as soon as the story broke (I spent most of yesterday on the phone trying to get through to the RSPCA) I, for one, would take the RSPCA's arm off if I was offered one

On another note, I read somewhere else that the dogs cannot be rehomed until contact is made with the owner, as legally they are still hers. Is that right? I thought once an animal was rescued by the RSPCA, they assumed responsibility for them

I think, though am not 100% positive, that in order to be able to rehome them, the dogs have to either be awarded to them through the courts or signed over by the owner.

This does seem sensible since otherwise the RSPCA could, in theory, snatch anyone's dog without having to give any justification.

Going to court could be quite a lengthy and time consuming process, with the dogs having to stay in the kennels in the meantime. They would probably therefore only pursue this if there was no other option.

I would have thought that, in circumstances such as these with the owner being untracable, they could apply to the courts to have a ruling to award them ownership, taking into consideration the sheer number of dogs involved and the strain upon the RSPCA and the dogs I would imagine that this process would be pretty quick

I don't have any experience of court cases involving dog ownership/cruelty cases, but what I do know is that 'sensible' and the law don't always go hand in hand. I agree that your argument is logical, but I suspect that in reality it would not be that straight forward.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has direct knowledge of the system.

amen to that.

There's bound to be someone here that has a little insider knowledge of the RSPCA's workings

I believe in these sort of cases they will sometimes try to find foster homes for the dogs . Then once the court case has been the people who have fostered them can rehome them if they want .
I know someone who did this , it was a rhodesian ridgeback who had been seized from a puppy farm

Read about this yesterday. Shocking. I wonder what happened to her. I wonder if she has just done a runner...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle1994069.ece

98 dogs? How could she alone properly look after 98 St Bernards? I think it's outrageous that she had this number of dogs. Did she have relatives or staff to help care for them?

Surely the RSPCA can seize the dogs in conditions like this without her permission?

Sorry if this has all been said before, haven't read the whole thread thoroughly.

Poor dogs.

Yes, apparently there was some staff at some point, there was a report in the Northhants ET that one lass who worked there on a sunday hadn't been paid for the past several weeks, although I would have thought there would have been more than just the owner and the sunday worker, so the question is... where is everyone else?

Indeed. Surely some other people must know something? Did she disappear without saying anything to anyone? If so, why hasn't anyone reported her missing? Or did she tell someone she was going away? Hmm, I wonder. Still totally shocking though.