Toti SPCA faces severe financial crisis
"Our vet and medicine bills are our highest accounts at over R120,000 a month. If we keep going this way, the eventual reality will be the closing of the animal shelter's doors." - Stacey Wall.
AMANZIMTOTI SPCA is facing a financial crisis and are requesting for the community’s assistance.
The funds that the organisation spends on rescuing and treating every animal they can is outweighing the amount of financial support they are receiving.
“We are currently losing around R50,000 every month,” said the SPCA’s Stacey Wall. “We try our best to help every animal that comes through our doors, but sadly we can’t keep going on this way.”
Due to the fact that the SPCA picks up and takes in stray animals from the streets and doesn’t ever turn an animal away, it should qualify to receive a grant from the municipality.
“We have not received the municipal grant for eight months and it doesn’t seem like we will receive it any time soon,” said Stacey.
In addition to this, the animal welfare organisation experienced a serious blow in discovering that Lotto has excluded animal shelters from its call for applications for funding next year. The SPCA received its Lotto grant this year, but by losing R50,000 every month, the money is drying up quickly.
“We were hoping to use this grant money to begin our extension plans to build more ablutions and eventually a tea garden on the land next door,” said manager Tracey Girling. “Unfortunately, we have had to postpone these plans due to the financial difficulties.”
“The public wants the SPCA to come out and collect stray dogs or even their own dogs they want to surrender,” said Stacey. “They want us to treat every sick and injured animal, and come to the rescue of every animal in need. But our vet and medicine bills are our highest accounts at over R120,000 a month. If we keep going this way, the eventual reality will be the closing of the animal shelter’s doors.”
The SPCA has asked residents to consider committing to a donation of just R30 a month. “If you can afford to donate more, that would be wonderful,” said Stacey. “We currently have around 6,600 likes on our Facebook page, and I’m sure we have many other supporters who are not on Facebook, or who have not liked our page,” she said. “If only half of this number of people committed, not only would we be able to cover the R50,000 we’re losing every month, we would be able to do so much more.”
To make deposits into the Amanzimtoti SPCA bank account, contact the SPCA through its Facebook page, or call on 031-904-2424.
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