Are Street Collections a Threat to Angling?

When you see local animal rights groups collecting in the street, do you ever stop to wonder how that money is spent?

This thought was started by a letter, from the Western Morning News, recently brought to our attention, see below;

THREAT TO ANGLING
I have always been an enthusiastic supporter of such animal welfare organisations as the PDSA and the RSPB, even though hunting has been banned. But since "animal rights" fanatics have attacked anglers, I have now withdrawn my support from them and also from the RSPCA and all other organisations purporting to care about animals - even the cats' and dogs' home and cat protection league - as I honestly believe all these organisations do have a sinister hidden agenda towards the sport of angling, and that they may even be financing the animal rights extremists out of the donations that they receive from the general public.
R Hancox
Plymouth
Western Morning News 12.9.06

SAA does not believe that PDSA and RSPB are anti-angling and wrote in reply;

I think Mr (?) Hancox is wrong to withdraw support from the PDSA and RSPB since “"animal rights" fanatics have attacked anglers” and because he believes “ all these organisations do have a sinister hidden agenda towards the sport of angling, and that they may even be financing the animal rights extremists out of the donations that they receive from the general public.”

The national angling bodies work with the RSPB and other animal welfare organisations in the interests of our wildlife and the wider ecological community. The PDSA and RSPB both do valuable work with animals and it would be wrong for anglers, in general, to withdraw whatever support they offer these two organisations.

Public street collections by local animal welfare and rights groups are a much more likely source of funding for extremists. All of us, including local councils, need to be assured that street collections in the name of animals are what they claim to be and are not being used to fund attacks on individuals or property.

Yours faithfully

Michael Heylin
Secretary
Specialist Anglers’ Alliance

Can you be sure that your local council checks the audited accounts of organisations it grants street collection licenses to?

Perhaps you should ask them.