SPCA kennels under strain
We regret the heartache that Nici van der Merwe suffered as a result of her pets being put down.
EDITOR – On behalf of the committee and staff of the Amanzimtoti SPCA, I would like to set the record straight regarding our euthanasia policy as mentioned in your publication last week.
There is a perception that we euthanase dogs and cats brought into us too quickly and with little thought.
Nothing can be further from the truth. Our manager, Tracey Girling and staff are dedicated to the welfare of animals and do everything in their power to prolong their lives. The only way this can happen long term is for them to be adopted. To this end, we promote the adoption of our animals in every way we can.
At our AGM in July, we gave a summary of the animals handled by us for the year ending March 2014. During that time, we had 890 cats and 1,013 dogs handed to us as strays.
We had 500 cats and 1,463 dogs donated by their owners, a total of domestic pets of 3,866 or on average 322 a month. Of that figure, 37 cats were adopted and 211 dogs. Strays claimed by owners amounted to 11 cats and 282 dogs. This is a success rate of just 14%.
As shocking as these figures are, we can never turn any animal away and have to do the best we can with the resources we have available. We are in the process of submitting our Lotto application for next year and we have mentioned the need to have our kennel space extended to try and cope with the huge volume of animals we receive. Sometimes we are able to accommodate our animals for longer periods but we have just come through one of the busiest periods with Diwali and this has put a tremendous strain on our available kennels, which resulted in the difficult decision that was taken.
We regret the heartache that Nici van der Merwe suffered as a result of her pets being put down. At our committee meeting on 18 November, we will be discussing with Tracey if it would be possible for us to keep older dogs and cats for a longer period of time and whether or not this would result in more adoptions. Thank you, Nici, for making us aware that circumstances sometimes change and people do come back for their pets.
A CLARKE
Chairman: Amanzimtoti SPCA
