Profile - Inspector Nicky Thorne
Nicky has been an RSPCA inspector since 2004 - it’s the only thing she’s ever wanted to do. She attends around 500 calls a year in Surrey, where she’s the regional equine officer – as well as team leader on the water rescue team.
Pets: Sylvia the rescue gerbil and tortoise Phyllis.
Favourite job: Horse rescues.
Is being an inspector what you expected?
Yes, I think it is because it’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was 10 years old. But when you become an inspector you realise it is as much about helping people as the animals.
Do you think it’s what other people expect?
People think it’s a lot of action all the time, when really it’s lots of driving around, but at any minute you could get a call saying an animal needs rescuing or is being mistreated.
People also seem to think that you can just walk in a house and say ‘I’m the RSPCA and I’m taking your dog away’, but I can’t remove an animal just because the conditions aren’t perfect. Often it’s better for the animal to stay where it is and give the owner advice so they can improve things.
How often do you end up giving advice?
All the time. Like the rabbit we went to today. He was in a small hutch on his own with nothing but dry food to eat. I explained to the owners about how important it is to include hay and vegetables in his diet and let him out for lots of exercise.
Why do you think people are cruel?
A lot of the time it’s laziness, and also ignorance. When people get a dog sometimes they don't think about what it needs. A dog doesn’t want to sit on the sofa all day watching telly and eating leftovers – it wants to be outside running around.
Do many calls turn out to be cases for prosecution?
No, I take about half a dozen a year in my patch, but it varies depending on what area you’re in. The worst job I’ve ever had was the lady who starved her pregnant horse to death. The owner had 86 acres of land and 1,000 bales of hay in the next field – all she needed to do was grab a bale of hay and throw it over the fence and that horse wouldn’t have died. Prosecution cases involve a lot of hard work because you have to gather evidence and make sure that a court has all the information it needs to make a decision.
What are the more common calls you get?
We get lots of calls about dogs tied up with no shelter and we also have a lot of horses in the area, so we get lots of calls from people concerned about whether they are being cared for properly.
Recently I got a horse out of a slurry pit – that was a fantastic rescue. I’ve done loads of rescues from rivers to ditches – but I’d never been down a hole! The horse had walked over a rotten wooden entrance and its back legs fell through and he went down the hole. Horse rescues are my favourite.
What jobs don’t you enjoy quite so much?
Snake rescues!
Have you had many snakes to attend to?
No, I’ve only ever had four, but I can remember every single one clearly! One was a grass snake trapped in pond netting and I was trying to pretend that I wasn’t absolutely petrified!
How do you unwind from the job?
I go to salsa dancing - I enjoy getting dressed up and letting my hair down, after wearing boots and muddy trousers all week!
