Strangely enough, I was in the middle of writing an article about the tactics used by the RSPCA when another animal charity knocked on my door. A young man holding a clipboard was standing on the doorstep, grinning enthusiastically: ‘Hello! I’m from Battersea Dogs Home.’
‘Hello,’ I said, ‘I’m a bit busy.’ Exposing animal welfare charities for preying on innocent people. I didn’t say that last bit out loud.
‘I just need to tell you,’ he said, ‘that we’ve got a big fundraising drive because a lot of dogs are being abandoned at the moment. And…’, he paused for dramatic effect, ‘…a lot of them have been tortured.’
‘Tortured?’ I said, feeling unnerved in precisely the way I was supposed to.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘tortured. It’s on the rise at the moment. Dogs being tortured.’
‘What do you mean? Who is torturing them and why?’
He shrugged.
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