RSPCA: Platinum prizes for five years of animal welfare pioneering
Authorities receive special RSPCA accolades
An RSPCA awards scheme which recognises pioneering animal welfare practices among local authorities and housing providers has given unique platinum prizes to seven councils for their consistently outstanding levels of service during the last five years.
Ashfield District Council, London Borough of Newham, London Borough of Waltham Forest, Luton Borough Council, Wandsworth Borough Council and Wrexham County Borough Council has all been awarded an RSPCA Platinum footprint award for maintaining their gold standard in the stray dogs category for the past five years, since the Community Animal Welfare Footprint (CAWF) scheme was launched.
Meanwhile, Wandsworth Borough Council’s Housing Service was rewarded for five years of hitting the gold standard with a Platinum footprint in the housing category, while Northampton County Council has been presented with the same accolade in the contingency planning category.
The Platinum prizes topped off what was the most successful year of CAWF since the RSPCA introduced the scheme in 2008, with a record number of entries from authorities across England and Wales. CAWF 2012 received 150 entries from 109 different organisations.
The scheme has again been officially supported by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and Trading Standards Institute (TSI).
The RSPCA CAWF scheme has four categories – animal welfare principles, contingency planning, housing and stray dogs – with either gold, silver or bronze footprints awarded, depending on the level of service provided by the authority or organisation. This is the first year that the platinum footprints have been awarded to those that have consistently achieved gold standard during the scheme’s entire five years.
Five innovator awards are also presented in recognition of the work that the judges considered the most pioneering. These are awarded in the categories English District Council Innovator, English County Council Innovator, English Unitary Council Innovator, Welsh Unitary Council Innovator and Housing and Multi-agency Innovator.
Staffordshire County Council picked up their second Innovator award in the English County Council Innovator category, after they previously won the same accolade in 2010. This year’s entry saw the Council address the growing trend of people keeping farm animals in non-farming environments such as back gardens and urban areas. This was done by producing information to the general public regarding animal health and welfare requirements.
Oxford City Council has been awarded this year’s Innovator prize in the English District Council category for their work with the city’s homeless people and their dogs. The initiative, in conjunction with the RSPCA, was established to ensure that stray dogs belonging to homeless people could be returned to them swiftly and reduce the chances of them having to give up their dogs as they were unable to pay repatriation fees.
The Innovator prize for English Unitary Councils was given to Medway Council, which launched a campaign to tackle the issue of barking dogs during ‘Noise Action Week’ after it received more than 400 complaints in a year. Despite a lack of resources, the Council called upon a variety of charities to provide assistance with the campaign that linked the barking with welfare issues.
Pembrokeshire County Council has won the Welsh Unitary Innovator prize for its work in recent years to improve breeding licence conditions. This year’s entry developed the Council’s work further with the introduction of new model conditions for all areas of animal establishment licences from boarding kennels and catteries to pet shops.
The winning entry in the Housing and Multi-agency Innovator category came from The Greater Merseyside Dog Welfare Forum. The Forum produced the guidance booklet ‘Dogs – Who does what?’ which outlined which organisations are responsible for what with regard to dog welfare and left no grey areas.
Claire Robinson, the RSPCA’s Government Relations manager, said: “This year’s Innovators attracted some bright new ideas from organisations trying to find new angles to longstanding problems such as irresponsible dog ownership and noise, to some more current animal welfare issues such as the increase in hobbyist farmers.
“What has been clear is that despite the tough economic climate and diminishing resources, many of the organisations that have been recognised in the Innovator category have been creative, organised and resourceful, pulling in partners to help share the load and the success.”
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Notes to editors
More information on the RSPCA’s Community Animal Welfare Footprints scheme is available at www.rspca.org.uk/cawf
The winners of the Innovator Awards are:
English County Council: Staffordshire County Council
English District Council: Oxford City Council
English Unitary Council: Medway Council
Welsh Unitary: Pembrokeshire County Council
Housing and Multi-agency: The Greater Merseyside Dog Welfare Forum
The following authorities were awarded the Animal Welfare Principles Footprint:
Gold: Oldham Council.
Silver: London Borough of Lambeth, Rochford District Council, Tendring District Council.
Bronze: Southampton City Council, Ryedale District Council, Basildon Borough Council, Stroud District Council, Winchester City Council.
The following authorities were awarded the Contingency Planning Footprint:
Platinum: Northamptonshire County Council.
Gold: Bath & North East Somerset Council Animal Care in Emergencies Group, Bracknell Forest Council, Bristol City Council, London Borough of Camden Council, London Borough of Haringey, London Borough of Lewisham, Monmouthshire County Council, Oldham Council, Reading Borough Council, Rochford District Council, Slough Borough Council, South Gloucestershire Council, Wokingham Borough Council.
Bronze: Cardiff Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Epping Forest District Council, London Borough of Redbridge Council, Stroud District Council, Telford and Wrekin Council, Uttlesford District Council.
The following authorities and organisations were awarded the Housing Footprint:
Platinum: Wandsworth Borough Council – Housing Service.
Gold: Caldmore Area Housing Association Ltd, Dacorum Borough Council, Fabrick Housing Group, Housing Hartlepool, Southampton City Council, Wales and West Housing Association, Wales and West Housing Association.
Silver: Hanover Housing Association, Lambeth Living Ltd, Lewisham Homes, Sandwell Homes, Yarling Housing Group.
Bronze: Bracknell Forest Homes, Brighton and Hove City Council, Eastbourne Homes Ltd (EHL), Golden Gates Housing Trust, Hastoe Housing Association Limited, Leeds City Council, Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association, Merthyr Valleys Homes, North Kesteven District Council, North Lincolnshire Homes, South Anglia Housing, South Devon Rural Housing Association, Sutton Housing Partnership, The Wrekin Housing Trust, Tendring Borough Council, Wolverhampton Homes.
The following authorities were awarded the Stray Dogs Footprint:
Platinum: Ashfield District Council, London Borough of Newham, London Borough of Waltham Forest, Luton Borough Council, Wandsworth Borough Council, Wrexham County Borough Council.
Gold: Basildon Borough Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cornwall Council, Denbighshire County Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Eden District Council, Fareham Borough Council, Hart District Council, Hinkley and Bosworth Borough Council, Kettering Borough Council, Kingston upon Hull City Council, London Borough of Harrow Council, London Borough of Islington Council, London Borough of Redbridge, North West Leicestershire District Council, Northumberland County Council, Oldham Council, Oxford City Council, Preston City Council, Ryedale District Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, Swale Borough Council, Test Valley Borough Council, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council, Warrington Borough Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, Westminster City Council, Wokingham Borough Council.
Silver: Borough of Poole Council, Breckland Council, Caerphilly CBC, Cardiff Dogs Homes – Cardiff Council, Colchester Borough Council, Crawley Borough Council, Cherwell District Council, Dacorum Borough Council, Darlington Borough Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Hartlepool Council, Isle of Anglesey County Council, London Borough of Brent, London Borough of Hackney, London Borough of Lambeth, London Borough of Lewisham, Newport City Council, Oxford City Council, Pembrokeshire County Council, Rochford District Council, Southampton City Council, Southend on Sea Borough Council, Stockton on Tees Borough Council, Stroud District Council, Tendring District Council, Uttlesford District Council, Winchester City Council, Wirral MBC, Worthing Borough Council.
Bronze: Bolsover District Council, Cherwell District Council, East Hertfordshire District Council, Middlesbrough Council.
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Duty press officer (evenings and weekends) Tel 08448 222888 and ask for pager number 828825
Email: press@rspca.org.uk Website: www.rspca.org.uk
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