RSPCA meets Tata over cat death claim at Port Talbot steelworks
RSPCA officials have met managers at Port Talbot's Tata steelworks where an internal investigation into alleged animal cruelty is underway.
The steel giant is refusing to comment on the allegation while it probes a complaint from someone outside the works that a cat died after a worker threw it into an empty molten steel vessel.
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Port Talbot's Tata steelworks
However, it said the company had no problem with the site's population of feral cats as this helped keeps rat numbers down.
It has also highlighted the workforce's animal welfare record, pointing out staff had often called in the RSPCA because they were worried about injured foxes, cats and birds.
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Tata has already confirmed the worker at the centre of the complaint has been suspended as a "precautionary measure".
At this stage the alleged incident is being treated as isolated. Tata spokesman Robert Dangerfield said: "The employee has been interviewed, and the investigation will involve interviews with other members of the workforce, and others.
"If that throws up any other allegations then we will investigate them as well. If there is any reason to extend the investigation, we will pursue that.
"We do have feral animals around the site. It's a very large site and wild animals can get in. We actually welcome cats because they keep the vermin down.
"For the same reason we are happy to see peregrine falcons nesting in our tall buildings. We have even had them in the blast furnaces.
"We know we have a population of feral animals. We keep an eye on it but it has a job to do. Workers on-site welcome the animals that do get onto the site and regularly look after them in one way or another.
"They're not pets but they are seen around and about."
Mr Dangerfield said Tata officials had held a meeting with the RSPCA to share details of the investigation.
"The RSPCA officers that attended commented that they come out to our site on a regular basis, usually because reports have been made by caring steelworkers regarding feral animals they are worried about. It may be a lame fox or cat. On one occasion a seabird had swallowed fishing line and managed to get it ravelled around a lamppost.
"So there is that side of it," added Mr Dangerfield.
Comments
by Neathboy234
Sunday, January 13 2013, 12:16PM
“Back in the 1980's I can remember a charger driver refusing to charge up the scrap box because it was full of drugs being deposed off by the police, his worry the fumes would turn him into a drug addict. On another occasion i remember helping to throw thousands of guns into the scrap box, it must have been at the time of the gun amnesty. We were all amazed how many guns had been modified by the owners. The best one happened in the mid 80's the police were destroying porn films. whist being put into the convector they all fell out onto the carriageway below. All were smashed apart from just one. When it was put into the video recorder it was found to be gay porn, much to everyone's disappointment. Long gone are those days”
by hacker_jack
Sunday, January 13 2013, 2:07AM
“Stupid EP site put the wrong comment on this page.
Richard, apologies if I didn't get your intended message, however if you use only the present tense in a post ("is used at time", not was, "notes get blown", not got blown) then I think it's fair to assume you mean the present. Maybe you should be clearer in future.
Also you explicitly said around the Vessel bay, not the scrap bay?”
by RichardCorso
Friday, January 11 2013, 7:04PM
“hacker_jack- I'm talking of over 30 years ago when I worked in the BOS Plant (a complete s..thole of a place) and the wind 'I'm talked about was from the scrap bay. So you're not the expert you think you are. It was a time when you actually saw someone else on the same shift...remember those days? Now the whole sites a dangerous empty shell that can be closed down at a drop of a Tata hard hat. The EU screwed what was British Steel when they implemented minimum steel prices - like dopes the UK followed it to the letter - while most in the EU didn't. That's when British Steel lost many customers. I left the site before the mass redundancies in the PT works and have not looked back since (Cheers from sunny Sydney).”
by jeffrey3
Friday, January 11 2013, 4:33PM
“well all i can say is that all the birds and animals in the plant are well fed by the workers of all firms as they all seem to move about getting their food from different departments they all now were to go when its grub time jeff3”
by hacker_jack
Friday, January 11 2013, 2:04PM
“What you have been told is BS. Any time we have put such materials into the Vessel it has been in sealed boxes.
Also you do not get enough wind coming into that area of the works (it is indoors with long stretches of bay either side) to blow things around anyway.”
by RichardCorso
Friday, January 11 2013, 12:03PM
“The BOS (Basic Oxygen Steel) making plant - the part of the Tata steel works you see from the M4 motorway near Margam that typically has a purple/red flame showing at the top of the it's chimney stack when it's producing steel is used at times to burn Police collections of pornography, weapons (knives/guns etc) and from the Royal Mint old/used banknotes. I have been told that on particularly windy days, some of the magazines and bank notes get blown around the vessel bay and a frenzy of workmen, Police and Royal Mint officials rush to collect the items!”