Funds and manpower dictate how much the SPCA can do

Sir
As a member of the Dundee and District SPCA, I hereby wish to outline a few pertinent facts concerning the duties of the society.
Firstly the acronym, SPCA, stands for Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – the operative word being Cruelty – and our duty is to enforce the regulations of the Animal Protection Act 71 of 1962 (this can be perused on the Internet).
The SPCA is very often blamed for every animal-related problem – stray dogs running in the streets – being the most common.
Pre 1994, dogs had to be licensed and sterilised and only a certain number of dogs were allowed per property, depending on the by-laws of the town. Municipal officials would conduct spot checks on homes asking for proof of licences and sterilisation certificates.
Post 1994, the above has been done away with therefore allowing dogs to breed at random and given freedom of the streets, creating a problem that has turned into a critical situation. One female dog and her offspring can produce approximately 68 000 offspring over six years. Stray dogs pose a health risk, eg. rabies, and form packs that can attack live stock, wild life and even humans.
The grim reality is that there is no immediate solution to a problem that has been allowed to fester for so long.
It is the duty of the Municipality, especially that of the Traffic Department, to monitor stray animals on the streets and roads. The SPCA has been told by the Traffic Department that this used to be part of their job but that the responsibility has been removed. In more progressive municipalities, the traffic police may issue warnings and/or fines to the owners whose dogs are in the streets. Failing this, the animal is impounded.
The SPCA’s funds and manpower dictate how much we can do within the community.
Funding is received from certain caring companies and individuals within the community and the rest from the fund-raising endeavours of the committee.
The SPCA is not government funded, receives nothing from Umzinyathi Municipality and last year did not receive a Grant-in-Aid from Endumeni Municipality.
We urge the community to become part of the solution and not the problem. This can begin with sterilising one’s pets and not supporting ‘backyard breeders”.
Just as the community are tired of marauding dogs, we are tired of the system and people that have allowed this problem to escalate and subsequently fail our animals.
Linda Milne, Committee Member
Dundee & District SPCA