Animal welfare v. Childrens welfare

[FirstAidTraining]

While this is a shocking story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-17767918 the part that leaped out at me was this:

The court was told the couple's five children were at risk of contracting disease from the animals.
The nine-month-old baby was found in the bed with soiled sheets during the raid by RSPCA officers.

Perhaps their local social services were all away on equality and diversity training?
It must have been hell for those animals living in such conditions, but what about this couples 5 children?
Do we care more in this country about animals than we do about children?

 

[Beachcomber]

Do we care more in this country about animals than we do about children?

Well, donations to animal charities consistantly exceed donation to childrens charities year on year so i guess the answer is yes.

 

[Furrtiv]

To me, personally this story tells of a failing of social services, rather than a child welfare vs. animal welfare case. The children were at risk from disease, so they also should have been removed, but it took a complaint and action by an animal charity to remove those children from harm (by removing the animals), when it should have been, first and foremost, the responisibility of social services to keep the kids safe when they obviously weren't.

My personal feeling is that both children and animals are innocents and can't help the situations they're sometimes put into by adults, and both parties need the aid of charities and with children, the aid of government bodies too. But I like animals more, so if I give to charity, it's almost always to an animal charity.

 

[FirstAidTraining]

it took a complaint and action by an animal charity to remove those children from harm (by removing the animals),

To be fair to social services, they can't know there's a concern unless some one raises one. Some one rang an animal chairty and complained about the conditions of the animals. They didn't ring social services to say there was concern over the conditions 5 children are being kept in with so many dogs and other animals in such a confined space.
I would be concerned for both, but my first concern would be for the children.

 

My personal feeling is that both children and animals are innocents and can't help the situations they're sometimes put into by adults,

The difference being that governments do in the main tend not to drop bombs on animals heads.:|

Earl