Your letters - September 2008

RSPCA prosecutions never taken lightly

In response to your article (Disability Now August, Hounded), prosecutions are never taken lightly by the RSPCA. Prosecutions are only brought by the RSPCA following a consistent, fair and independent review of the evidence, to help ensure that the RSPCA’s prosecution work commands public confidence. This is particularly so in those cases involving vulnerable people.

The code for Crown Prosecutors is applied by the RSPCA continuously throughout the decision-making process, in the same way it is applied by the Crown Prosecution Service. This is a broad test that considers the seriousness of the offence, the public interest in bringing a prosecution and the likely sentence to be obtained in the event of a conviction, which is significantly affected by a person’s particular circumstances.

As an animal welfare charity, we aim to protect the animals in the case and others that may be at risk in the future.

Thankfully, our inspectors resolved 92 per cent of the 137,245 incidents investigated by us in 2007 by providing owners with help and advice on animal care.

Officers also work with other agencies where expertise and help for other issues may be necessary.

However, in a handful of cases, ongoing animal cruelty can, unfortunately, only be prevented through court action.

RSPCA inspectors are trained to deal with animal welfare and quickly identify anyone who may be vulnerable; if in doubt they are treated as such and given the required legal protection.

All inspectors have equal opportunities training which encompasses disability and mental
health issues.

In addition, the legal training module includes the protection of vulnerable persons in relation to both the Human Rights Act and PACE (the Police and Criminal Evidence Act), and is reinforced throughout the training course.

If a prosecution is undertaken against anyone, ultimately the court considers whether it is appropriate to do so.

Sally Case, RSPCA head of prosecutions

Government must help meet fuel costs

I am a divorced woman with multiple sclerosis, a full-time wheelchair-user and sadly no longer able to remain in my admin post with the local health authority. My income has been cut dramatically, and I have £112 a week to live on. I need the following electrical equipment: two overhead tracking hoists, on constant charge, two powered wheelchairs that need charging each day, an environmental system, and an electric bed.

The government gives disabled people free bus travel – but I am unable to get my chair onto the local buses as 90 per cent of them have steps. My Motability car is great but I had to have diesel and that costs far more than petrol.

Due to my condition, I feel the cold, already wear several layers and use a hot-water bottle. I have had my home insulated and double-glazed and the boiler is now A-rated. There is nothing more I can do about the cost of heating my home. I have changed fuel providers so many times I have lost count.

I dread this winter. I am unable to work. Short of letting my Independent Living Fund carer go and trying to manage without support, what can I do?

We are told we are given enough to keep warm and that the elderly need it more. The fuel allowance is given to everybody over 60 regardless of their income, work status or even if they are in the country during the winter. Do I have to sit in the library all day to keep warm and come home to a cold house in the dark? How can we stop them ignoring us again?

Alison Lewis, Marlow, Buckinghamshire

Oscar brings respect

Were I not a reader of Disability Now I might not have heard of "bladerunner" Oscar Pistorius and his prosthetics (Disability Now August, Games without frontiers). Even now I find it unbelieveable that the IAAF wanted to ban him because his prosthetics gave him a “clear mechanical advantage”. What of the disadvantage of having both legs amputated: did that not more than compensate?

Anyway, Oscar’s blades have not given him such an advantage as he has failed to reach the qualifying standard; however, Oscar and others like him have succeeded in making Paralympics of mainstream interest and commanding respect from the media and public.

Spencer Arnott, Holmer Green, Buckinghamshire

Sex advice should be much more positive

Simon Parritt’s answer to the young couple with cerebral palsy with regard to their wish to have intercourse raises some interesting moral dilemmas for social support staff and the role they should or are willing to perform; but telling them that they shouldn’t get too “hung up” on doing what others do or aim too high too quickly is not the answer. Would this same advice be given to a non-disabled 21-year-old who perhaps had difficulty getting an erection?

Perhaps the couple may be able to pay for a sex worker who would assist them in exploring whether penetrative sex is for them. Given this opportunity, they would at least know for themselves what is or is not possible.

Anne Pridmore, Market Harborough, Leicestershire

Simon Parritt replies: The short answer is yes, I would give the same advice to anyone. That’s not to imply it isn’t also a rights issue. When helping real people in real distress, a gentle and humane approach that will achieve the most happiness is what is required. Fighting the system is a parallel process, politically important for all disabled people and us as professionals. However, as a disabled psychologist and human being my first priority is my fellow human who comes to me for help.

New format is ‘harder to handle’

As a regular reader of Disability Now I applauded the appointment of a disabled editor.

Ironically that change seems to have been accompanied by the introduction of a less accessible magazine format.

I find that the binding of the new magazine makes it impossible to read because I do not have the hand strength to open the pages as I would with a newspaper or spiral bound format. Many disabled people with whom I work experience the same thing.

When I raised a similar issue with the Office for Disability Issues about one of their publications, I got the 30 copies I requested with spiral binding. What plans do you have to offer Disability Now in a more accessible print format?

Clare Evans MBE, Calne, Wiltshire

The Editor replies: A print magazine is clearly going to present a variety of access challenges and one person’s perfection will always be someone else’s nightmare. Equally clearly, we cannot offer a bespoke solution for each reader but we are constantly reviewing the ways in which we present Disability Now to ensure that it meets as wide a range of access requirements as possible.