The cheerful pastime of baking cupcakes stands in stark contrast to the sadness of animal cruelty and neglect. However, as someone on the frontline against animal suffering, RSPCA South Australia inspector Stuart Thomas hopes people will make the connection and sign up for RSPCA’s annual Cupcake Day. 

The national RSPCA fundraising event is happening throughout October, with the official day on Monday October 26. People can sign up to host an event in their workplace, school or home, or even host a virtual baking challenge or Zoom party. 

Inspector Stuart’s colleagues have enjoyed several of his home-baked creations, and this year he’s entering some of them in a Cupcake Day bake-off between RSPCA staff. He’s pinned his hopes on his peanut butter fudge recipe as his most promising contender to take out this year’s coveted Best in Show award. (Inspector Stuart shares his peanut butter fudge recipe in this short video.) 

“While I get personal enjoyment out of sharing food with my co-workers, the main reason I do it is to try to brighten their day. Working at the RSPCA is rewarding but it can also be heartbreaking, so I’m just trying to do my bit to spread some joy.” 

Not all cases have happy outcomes, but one of Inspector Stuart’s recent cases that did end well provides a poignant reason to support this year’s Cupcake Day fundraiser. It involved two adult dogs and three puppies taken into RSPCA South Australia’s care from a Whyalla property in January this year. 

All five animals were in emaciated condition, with Inspector Stuart  having particular concerns for the puppies, whose growth was stunted  due to malnutrition. The owner agreed to surrender the dogs into  RSPCA’s care. 

According to Inspector Stuart, it was an all-too common scenario where the owner had too many mouths to feed and did not call for help soon enough. 

“It is never okay to allow animals to go hungry to the point where they are as thin as these dogs were,” he says. 

“But the circumstances around this case made it clear to me that this owner had become overwhelmed by the situation and genuinely did care for her dogs. She was very emotional when she surrendered them, but she knew it was the right thing to do.

“Importantly, this case provided opportunity for me to educate the owner and her family about caring for animals – this is a core part of what I do as an RSPCA inspector. We often find people want to do the right thing by their animals – they just lack knowledge.” 

Happily, all five dogs recovered and are now enjoying life in loving homes. This includes Rocky, one of the three puppies. His owner, Danielle, is a 'foster fail' as she ended up adopting him after first fostering him. 

“He did well in puppy school, coming second in the trick  competition, and spends his days playing with his big dog sister Halle (pictured below), chasing the cats, chasing his ball, and barking at anyone  that dares walk past,” Danielle reports. 

Funds raised from Cupcake Day events will go towards all RSPCA South Australia’s operations, including the inspectorate. Donations cover more than half the cost of this service to the government, enabling the small team of RSPCA inspectors to respond to animal cruelty and neglect reports across the entire State, seven days a week and 24 hours a day. 

With the economic downturn resulting from the current Covid-19 pandemic continuing to reduce the charity’s income, Inspector Stuart is urging South Australia’s community to join in. 

“To all animal lovers out there, please help us to do this essential work for animals by baking and sharing cupcakes with your families, friends or colleagues – as well as helping to give animals second chances, it definitely boosts your popularity!” 

Last financial year, RSPCA South Australia: 

∙ Investigated 3,941 cruelty reports 

∙ Responded to 1,973 ambulance callouts 

∙ Cared for 8,307 animals 

∙ Rehomed 5,085 animals 



For more information on RSPCA’s Cupcake Day, and to register: www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au