Award-winning Herts mum who rescued hundreds of puppies and horses as an RSPCA investigator dies aged 47

A mother from Buckinghamshire who was also an award-winning investigator with the RSPCA has died aged 47.

This afternoon (3 May), the animal welfare charity has confirmed that Kirsty Withnall lost her fight with cancer last month.

She worked for the welfare group as an investigator within the charity’s Special Operations Unit. Kirsty passed away on Sunday 21 April following a two-year battle with cancer.

The 47-year-old mum-of-two, from Buckinghamshire, grew up in Hertfordshire and had always been animal mad, with a particular passion for horses.

The RSPCA says she became one of its most inspirational inspectors, and one of its most formidable investigators, cracking some of the biggest puppy farming gangs and dog fighting networks in the UK.

Her love of animals dates back to her seventh birthday when she started riding, before getting her first pony, Topaz, at 11.

Just six weeks before her death she received a royal Colin Spedding Award from the National Equine Forum. This was in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to equine welfare.

She joined the RSPCA when she was 22, working in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, for six months before moving to Arundel, in West Sussex, where she worked for five years. She then moved to Buckinghamshire and joined the RSPCA’s new team of specialist equine officers to tackle the growing horse welfare problems.

Kirsty - who also served as the Director of the National Equine Welfare Council - joined the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) in 2015 after returning from maternity leave following the birth of the first of her two daughters.

RSPCA SOU Chief Inspector Will Mitchell - who interviewed Kirsty for her SOU role nine years ago - says: “Kirsty was an exceptional investigator and rescuer, a fierce advocate for animal welfare, and a wonderful colleague and friend. She never failed to dazzle people with her unwavering commitment to improving animal welfare and her relentless tenacity to bring justice to animal abusers.

“They broke the mould when they made Kirsty and she was a trailblazer and a huge influencer for the way we investigate cruelty. She was a fearless and formidable investigator while also ensuring she showed every single animal and human who crossed her path complete empathy, kindness and compassion."

During her career she was instrumental in a number of major high-profile cases including:

-Rescuing 147 horses from a farm in Amersham in 2008 - a story that captured the attention of the nation and its media as rescuers worked tirelessly to remove sick and dying animals;

-Leading the 2018 case into a fraudulent puppy dealing gang in London who made £2.5m selling more than 5,000 puppies - many of which were sick - over five years to unsuspecting members of the public;

-Coordinating more than 100 people from different agencies to rescue 204 animals - including 129 horses - from awful conditions on a farm in Surrey, in one of the biggest rescue operations ever;

-And, most recently, cracking an international network of dog fighters who were breeding, training and fighting dogs across England, Ireland and France, subjecting countless dogs to unimaginable cruelty.