Tweet-a-thon follows a day in the life of the RSPCA

More than 3,100 calls received during 24 hours 

09.08.11

Our 24-hour tweet-a-thon held last week gave an insight into an average day in the life here at the RSPCA – with more than 3,100 calls received and more than 1,400 incidents passed to inspectors.


Twitter fans were able to follow live updates from 10am on Wednesday, 3 August through to 10am on Thursday, 4 August as RSPCA_Frontline at twitter.com/RSPCA_Frontline gave details of some of the thousands of calls we receive every day - and how much we rely on the public's support.

Inspector Tony Woodley, communications and liaison officer for the RSPCA inspectorate, set up the RSPCA_Frontline Twitter feed as he wanted to publicise the work of our 292 inspectors, 80 animal welfare officers and 52 animal collection officers.

It was the first time Tony (pictured above), joined by Chief Superintendent Richard Harding and digital project manager James Self, had ever spent 24 hours at our national control centre in South Yorkshire from where they tweeted incidents as they came in.

A 'unique event' but a typical day here at the RSPCA

Tony said:

The tweet-a-thon was a unique event for us, but the day itself certainly wasn't.

It was just another day in the life of the RSPCA and every day is like that.

For us it was about raising awareness of the work that the RSPCA does around the clock, 24 hours a day, and reminding people that we couldn't do it without them.

Incidents tweeted

On average someone in England and Wales calls the RSPCA cruelty line on 0300 1234 999 every 30 seconds.

Last year we received more than 1.25 million phone calls and we respond to around 1,000 incidents a day.

Some of the many incidents tweeted during the event included:

• someone who found a snake hiding behind their microwave
  
  
• a pigeon found trapped in a barrel of cooking oil
   
• scores of calls about dogs in hot cars
   
• an early hours rescue of a horse stuck in a muddy pond.

Calls to our cruelty line are treated in confidence. Details of incidents tweeted are edited so no one is identified and will not include a location.

To report animal suffering or cruelty to the RSPCA, please call 0300 1234 999.
Please don't send a message via Twitter.

Thank you for your support during the 24-hour tweet-a-thon

Tony added:

A lot of people sent us messages of support, saying it really opened their eyes, and that is a major success.

So many people said they never realised the full extent of the work our frontline staff carry out day in, day out.

We can't do it without you

How you can help 

Providing 24-hour animal welfare services, 365 days a year, cost the RSPCA £61 million last year.

The RSPCA only exists because of public donations - it is thanks to the generosity of our supporters that we are able to continue to provide these vital services.

 

• To find out how you can help, please visit our appeal page:
  
  www.rspca.org.uk/247  

Thank you