A celebration of our history

You may have already heard of the name Ron Summers, an RSPCA Inspector who started his career in 1970 and saved more animals than can be remembered, while also helping to secure the animal home we work from now.

Ron joined us for coffee and cake in celebration of his work last week, and took the time to reminisce and tell some of the stories from his amazing career to help our current team understand how the RSPCA has developed in our area and what an impact Ron made.

We learnt that not much has changed when it comes to the neglect we see of animals, sadly the cases Ron dealt with then are still being seen now.

We heard how many of the animals Ron saved were cared for by him and his family in their own home. Including seal pups in the back garden!

We also got to see Ron’s huge collection of newspaper cuttings, photographs and leaflets from years past which were incredibly exciting – some of which will appear in Our Branch History section of our website over the coming weeks.

To top the day off, Ron’s son Michael presented us with old photos that have been on site, slightly damaged for years, in brand new mounts and frames thanks to his company Red Dog Frames. These will take pride of place in our reception for all to see.

Keep an eye out at our animal centre as we are aiming to create an archive of images and information dating back to 1934 for all to enjoy and learn from.

Ron you continue to be an inspiration and we hope you know how treasured you are.

Here’s to the next 50 years of animal rescue and rehabilitation!