Warning from animal charity

The Scottish SPCA is warning Airdrie and Coatbridge residents of the dangers of social media following several posts which have garnered press attention and tied up valuable resources for the charity.

Last year, the organisation received almost 500 calls regarding Facebook, many of which it was unable to respond to, due to the reports being from third parties who did not have any information about the individual they were trying to report.

The charity’s chief superintendent, Mike Flynn, said:“While we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears, we must stress that we can only take reports about incidents they have concrete information about or have witnessed themselves.

“We can’t take reports via our social media channels and we can’t investigate incidents in other countries as we only operate in Scotland.

“Our helpline is there to take reports of animals in need of help or provide advice to the public; the service is not there to give updates on social media posts.

“Often, when a case is ongoing, we are very limited in what we can say to the public as it could affect our chances of a successful prosecution.

“In fact, in the past, cases have fallen apart due to the interference of people on social media.

“The society is always happy to help and offer advice but when we receive a high number of calls from those who have seen a post on social media and cannot provide eyewitness testimony, this can tie up valuable resources and time when we could be tending to animals in need of our help.

Mike continued:“We understand that animal welfare is an emotive subject and the public are often acting with good intentions.

“But we would urge people to think carefully about what they post on social media, and when they contact us, as they could end up doing more harm than good.”

Anyone who has legitimate concerns about an animal and can give a witness statement can call the Scottish SPCA animal helpline on 03000 999 999.