SPCA looks to the year ahead

The challenges and successes of the past year of the Brakpan SPCA were highlighted at the society’s AGM on Saturday afternoon. The meeting was held at Rapid Spill Response in Van Eck Park.

Attendees were welcomed by SPCA manager Tamaryn Lombard before chairperson Joggie Marais took to the floor to share his report.

Commenting that he was excited for the year ahead, Marais started off by explaining the employee and management committee structure, the challenges faced by the SPCA and how the community can assist.

Marais also spoke about the SPCA’s financial performance, including revenue and expenses.

Some of the challenges faced include bandwidth for fundraising, general capacity of committee members to execute on matters, bank signatory changes and committee and society member numbers.

“We don’t have enough people involved. We need members of the community to help with anything they can,” he said.

He outlined how the community can get involved. This can be done by becoming a committee member or even an ordinary SPCA member. The latter entails paying a nominal annual fee. Volunteering is also always welcome.

“We need a lot of volunteers over weekends, and it’s not always to clean the kennels,” he said.

The SPCA is always grateful for donations, whether in cash or kindness.

Supporters can also sign up for the SPCA debit order programme, or nominate the Brakpan SPCA as a MySchool beneficiary.

The community is also encouraged to share the SPCA’s Facebook posts and advocate for the SPCA.

Marais stressed the importance of sterilising pets and added that people should adopt instead of buying pets.

Presenting the financial report, Marais said economic pressure continued during the year with higher than normal increases in power, fuel and food prices.

“The Brakpan SPCA showed a decline in income overall due to several factors,” he said.

One major factor was the closure of the pound for two months due to a canine distemper outbreak that halted all adoptions, boarding, in-takes, and fundraising, especially over the festive season.

At this point, Lombard briefly intervened to share some background on the outbreak.

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Canine distemper is a highly contagious viral disease that affects dogs, presenting with systemic symptoms, respiratory issues, gastrointestinal problems and often neurological complications.

She said the first signs were observed in February last year.

“It was nothing major, but by October we had huge numbers which caused the pound to close,” she said.

“We have had no cases since last year. It affected us financially but also had a negative impact on staff morale.”

While the SPCA accepts all animals into the pound, many lack vaccination records, and Lombard emphasised the importance of pet owners vaccinating their pets to prevent further outbreaks as the disease is preventable through vaccination.

“If people want pets, they must be responsible and vaccinate,” she said.

Returning to the matter of finances, Marais revealed the SPCA’s total revenue growth year-on-year for the financial year decreased by 10.44% (R1.881m down from R2.100m).

Decreases were observed in:
• Donations and sponsorships: 9.9%
• Charity income: 31.5%
• Pound income: 0%
• Adoptions: 27.1%

The main contributors to revenue were donations and sponsorships (R448 000), clinic fees (R395 000) and pound income (R552 000). There was also a rise in expenses, with motor vehicles being one of the main contributors.

“We have a serious issues with motor vehicles and we need a vehicle donated,” said Marais.

While vet and clinic fees saw a decline of 30.9%, it is still one of the society’s most costly expenses at R397 9000.
After Marais concluded his presentation, Lombard provided her manager’s report.

She prepared a video for attendees, showing a brief overview of the work undertaken by the local inspectorate.

The video, difficult to watch at times with unsettling images of animal neglect and cruelty, also highlighted the passion and dedication of the SPCA staff.

Among the footage were local inspectors being roped in to assist the NSPCA with the culling of 22 000 chickens in Delmas during an avian flu outbreak.

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Lombard then explained the role of the SPCA, which is to prevent cruelty to animals.

“We are the municipal pound and we are mandated to handle any and all animals that we may come across,” she said.

“We unfortunately do not have a veterinarian on site, however, we offer many services through private vets, such as sterilisation.”

Lombard said many people think their hearts are made of stone.

“Our hearts are fragile. Everything we do is with intent. Our job is to make a better home for animals,” she said.

“Things are not getting easier but Brakpan and its animals are beautiful to us. Every single life matters.”

Among the inspectorate’s duties are cruelty investigations, pro-active inspections and routine inspections. The inspectors have also been helping sister societies in the surrounding areas.

According to Lombard, they investigated around 450 cruelty complaints during the past year, and conducted 156 pro-active and pre-home inspections. Eight warrants were obtained but there were no prosecutions.

Lombard reported that the society handled 23 000 animals over the past year. This was an increase from the 16 413 the previous year. An estimated 3 521 animals were handled at the pound, which is lower than the previous year’s 4 612.

Total adoptions have been estimated at around 120, while about 127 animals were claimed by their owners.

Lombard was pleased to report that approximately 350 animals were sterilised.

“We cannot do it without funds, without the public’s assistance, without volunteers, the committee and regular donors,” she said.

Lombard thanked the SPCA’s numerous supporters, namely STM Communications, Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital, Clean Brakpan, Secure Tech Security, AfriForum, Brakpan Radio Group, CPF, VC SUPERSPAR, Sherwood Pick n Pay, WH Hardware, DF Autotech, Dalview Carwash, Proline Manufacturers, Rapid Spill Response and Barry Venter.

The meeting then shifted to the SPCA’s focus areas for the upcoming year. The society intends to explore different avenues to source a steady income (charity shop, pet corner sales, MySchool, debit orders).

There will also be an increased focus on fundraising, and a review of suppliers to minimise society expenses.

This review will include the cost of services offered such as vaccinations, micro-chipping and sterilisations as supplier prices have increased.

Attendees were then reminded about the SPCA’s Volunteer Day at the society from 09:30 to 11:30 tomorrow (Saturday).

They have called upon all animal lovers to volunteer their time and assist the society with various tasks on the day.

The AGM was concluded with the presentation of a gift to Lombard for her diligence and dedication.