Johannesburg South – while January can be a challenging month to humans, the SPCA struggles to feed animals because only a few donations are received.
Fortunately, school teacher Cindy Allen overheard that the Midrand SPCA had a food shortage and she asked learners at Verney College in Rosettenville to help. This was in fact the first donation of the year the SPCA received.
Most of the donations were made by the grade 10 physics class who said they are “basically animal lovers”. The learners have domestic animals at home and helping the SPCA was not a difficult decision to make.
“We struggle with dog food; we hope this challenges other schools so that they can also donate food. We really appreciate this. It was a challenging thing the kids did. These kids are amazing,” said inspector Jerry Seemise of the Midrand SPCA.
“I didn’t think we could pull it off. The kids were so willing to give. They have big hearts,” said Cindy Allen, the school teacher who was very excited to see the amount of food the learners were able to donate just a week after she suggested the idea.
“I used to go to the local SPCA and wash the animals. I love animals,” said Tiara Narainsamy, a grade 10 learner who spent her pocket money to purchase eight bags of 8kg dog food and a few bags of cat food.
The SPCA cares for around 180 dogs and 60 cats and uses approximately 65kg of dog food a day. However, although they are very grateful for the learners’ efforts in making these donations, the many bags donated can last no longer than two weeks.
The SPCA would be very grateful to any individuals or organisations who can donate food, because they would love to see that all the animals are well-fed and healthy.
