SPCA slams euthanasia rumours

DURBAN and Coast SPCA is refuting what it claims are vicious rumours making the rounds on social media and WhatsApp regarding the length of time the organisation houses animals.

Marketing Manager, Tanya Fleischer, said she felt it was vital that they set the record straight and put the public at ease.

“We are shocked by claims on social media where people post a photo of an animal and claim they only have until a certain time the next day to adopt the animal before the SPCA euthanases it. We don’t have a countdown to euthanase and only resort to this if the animal is too sick or gets kennel stress. It is cruel to keep them if they are not coping with being in a cage and it is unfair to keep them if they are very ill or contagious as it is not fair to the other animals in our care. We keep our animals as long as we can until they are adopted,” she said.

Tanya referred to the story of Dusty, a dog who was desperate for his forever home and who had been with the SPCA since February. He was finally booked last week.“On 26 February we received a call from a member of the public who was working on a construction site in Pinewood Road and had spotted a stray dog roaming around the area. Inspector Nish Ramsamy arrived on scene, he spotted the dog in question who ran away to sit on a piece of foam that he had clearly been sleeping on. Inspector Ramsamy approached the pooch who happily went with him. He was brought back to our SPCA and as Inspector Ramsamy opened the van door, the dog happily wagged his tail and Inspector Ramsamy fell in love, he named him Dusty,” she said.

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Upon his health check in the clinic, Dusty was diagnosed with mange and put onto treatment of weekly Bravecto, two weeks of antibiotics and 10 weeks of Ivomec injections. He fully recovered and has been up for adoption since the end of June.

“The ‘seven days’ people refer to is the pound period, not the date of euthanasia, we don’t have a countdown for the animals in our care. By law a stray animal has to be kept for seven days allowing the owner the opportunity to come forward and claim his or her animal back in the event they’ve been lost or stolen, whatever the case. After seven days the stray will undergo a health check and will then go up for adoption,” said Tanya.

She explained that there were 250 kennels at the SPCA. Some were used to board security dogs and for the public to use if going on holiday. Others are used to house dogs during the seven day pound period and the kennels in the foreground are for dogs who are up for adoption. She said stories that the SPCA run out of kennels and need to put animals to sleep are untrue.

“We are not the ones leaving our unwanted animals behind, we do the best we can with the resources we have and we care for, love and respect each animal that we encounter. We encourage the public to sterilise their animals, reducing the number of unwanted litters, and we encourage the public to support us. We are also the only animal charity which has the power to fight for the Animals Protection Act in court,” she said.

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