RSPCA shocking behaviour again

Richard and Samantha Byrnes were charged with animal cruelty after a neighbour complained that 16-year-old Claude’s hair was too matted.

Inspectors seized and destroyed the animal and even refused the Byrnes’ request to delay the procedure for a few hours to allow their children, Eloise and Dominic, to say ‘goodbye to a much-loved family member.’

Accountant Mr Byrnes, 53, said the Turkish van cat hated being groomed and became ‘a fury of claws and teeth’ when they tried to brush him.

He would only have his coat trimmed under a vet’s aesthetic.

‘The matting never bothered him, it was the de-matting he couldn’t stand.’

After the couple reluctantly agreed to put the cat to sleep, the RSPCA charged them with animal cruelty, and so began an ordeal that only ended on Friday when prosecutors dropped the case as it was ‘not in the public interest’ to pursue the charges.

Mr Byrnes, of Tring, Hertfordshire, said: ‘I assumed the RSPCA was a nice cuddly charity that looked after animals but what they did to us was completely shocking.

‘I would like to sue them for the hurt they have caused. Their behaviour is out of control and they seem to be able to operate in a wholly unaccountable manner with no repercussions.’

An RSPCA spokeswoman said the cat was destroyed on vets’ advice – even though a surgeon could not be certain that Claude was suffering.