Contrary to what most people think, the RSPCA does not receive automatic "funding" and local branch animal welfare services entirely depend on what volunteers can raise. In a typical week we will take in at least one animal with severe injuries requiring surgical repairs costing up to £500, followed by several weeks aftercare until it is well enough to be rehomed. We will also receive daily requests for help to pay for emergency veterinary treatment and we must find £2,500 per month to keep our animal clinic running and another £2,000 per month to pay for boarding and care of animals waiting to be found new homes.

All RSPCA branches are separate charities affiliated to the national RSPCA, which provides us with a grant of £12,000 annually. We are individually responsible for raising the remainder of the funds needed to run the local services which we provide, and all extra money we can raise is kept to be spent locally.

We pay an annual contribution into the Regional Fund, which is used to support projects which will benefit all the branches within the Eastern Region. This contribution is calculated on a sliding scale depending on the amount of funds a branch has in reserve. Branches like us with less than a year's operating costs in their reserves pay a contribution of £250, and this amount rises to a possible maximum of £10,000 if a branch were to have more than 10 years funds in reserve. (The aim of this is to achieve a fair redistribution of funds from branches which have more money than they really need to ones which are struggling).

These pages were created to give some idea of the range of academic studies on the subject of animals.