it's very rare that battersea face a negative story in the media that has the potential to damage its much loved and respected brand but as 2015 drew to a close we faced our biggest reputational threat in geneeation on 30 decenber the home was contacted by the mail on sunday who claimed to have received serious allegations from a battersea worker about how the charity deals with aggressive dogs in its care they accused the home of needlessly putting hundreds of healthy dog to sleep and earmarking anxious dogs to be euthanased without exploring altternatives as a charity that has prided itself on the care it gives its dogs and cats for 156 years and one that seeks the very best outcome for every animal that comes through its gates this was a devastating and unfair allegation that could have huge repercussions the next few day would be crucial to take control steer the media and reassure our internal and extensive external audiences as this would include a bank holiday-new year day and much of the issues management would take place out of the office it was vital to maintain a solid crisis communications team that could work effectively together the home was open to the public on the day the article would publish and it's one of the busiest day of the year for our centres it would also be a hugely busy day for social media activity it was vitai that we offered the newspaper a compelling response and reassured our supporters key stakeholders and internal teams providing swift and informed communications