Pretorius lives out her passion

HEALING sick and injured stray animals is the life and passion of Pam Pretorius, the hospital supervisor at the Durban and Coast SPCA.

For the last 33 years, the passionate animal lover has dedicated her time and effort into giving stray animals a second chance. Last week, the Northglen News caught up with Pretorius to find out what an average day in her life is like.

“My day can start any time, be it midnight or 3am in the morning. I am on call 24 hours a day. If an injured animal is brought to the SPCA I have to rush in. In most cases these emergencies involve animals that have been hit by cars or dog fights,” she explained.

Despite her constant on-call status, Pretorius insisted that she would not change her career for any other. “I have always loved animals, and being able to treat them and watch them find homes is incredibly rewarding. My father ignited my passion for animals. He and I would spend hours with the birds he kept in aviaries at the back of our home,” she said.

In turn, Pretorius and her career have also inspired a love for animals among her children. Once old enough, they opted to join her on her rescue missions, she said. “My children are amazing. They understand my passion and are very supportive. They share my love of animals,” she said.

She joined the SPCA family right after finishing school after a chance meeting with in inspector, which soon led to a surprise phonecall.

“I told him how much I loved animals and that an inspectorate position would be a dream come true. The next day I got a phone call inviting me to come and conduct an inspectorate test. In the end, I started training in the clinic and they haven’t been able to get rid of me since,” she laughed.

One of the highlight cases of her career, said Pretorius, was a small maltese poodle that had been hit by a vehicle. He was in a bad state when he arrived at the SPCA premises and she had strong doubts about his chances for survival.

“He had collapsed and he struggled to breathe. Once I was certain that he was no longer in pain, I went home for the night. But I stressed the whole night over this poor dog. The next day, however, he was a completely new dog. He was sitting and wagging his tail. The other veterinarians thought I was crazy. A while later he was adopted,” she said.

The worst part of her job, however, is dealing with liars. According to Pretorius, people who feel the need to lie about the animal’s circumstances often compromise her task of healing them.

“Even people who are not necessarily breaking the law lie to us. When they give us incorrect information about the animal, for example how long he has been sick, it prevents us from diagnosing and treating them properly. It wastes time and resources,” she said.