Q Do all SPCAs have a veterinarian or a veterinary hospital?
A Very few SPCAs have their own veterinary clinics. The majority of SPCA have to use the services of private veterinarians.
Q Why do SPCAs have veterinarians or hospitals?
A To treat and sterilise their own animals –animals at the SPCA itself. A secondary purpose is to assist animals especially with regard to sterilisation, for people in low income brackets, as well as pensioners and the unemployed.
Q Private veterinarians charge too much.
A That is not for the SPCA to debate. It is a South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) issue. If you feel you have been overcharged, take it up with the SAVC.
Q Why can’t get cheap veterinary services at an SPCA?
A You may be able to if you can prove you are genuinely impoverished. But when people donate to an SPCA they do so to help a homeless, cruelly-treated animal. This is where donations must be directed. If the SPCA subsidised the public who earn an income, it would soon run out of money and have to close. People donate to SPCAs to help SPCA animals.
Q I’d rather you (the SPCA) got the money!
A This is a misunderstanding. If we charged the public a subsidised rate, the difference has to come from somewhere. It would mean taking money from where it is most needed – SPCA animals. For every subsidised treatment, an abused animal could have been helped.
Q Being checked out and assessed makes us feel like criminals.
A While the SPCA understands this, a means-test is necessary especially in light of the extent of fraud. Giving the domestic helper’s address, claiming the animal isn’t yours but an untraceable relative’s and saying you found the pet, then using its name and leaving toys – the list is endless. The more the SPCA is taken for a ride, the more its resources are depleted and the fewer animals that can be helped in the long run.
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