Outreach – helping animals, one at a time
The outreach was a collaborative effort with locally based Cause 4 Paws, whose volunteers provided pet food, blankets and collars for every pet owner there that day.
THE Animal Anti Cruelty League’s (AACL) Team Outreach recently set up their mobile clinic unit in the Jackson’s Drift informal settlement, south of Johannesburg.
As and when new areas requiring the AACL’s primary veterinary care are identified, various criteria needs to be assessed before a decision can be taken, i.e. the level of need of a particular community (socio-economic circumstances), logistics, what services, if any, are available, size of community and number of animals, and the ever important question of whether or not there is sufficient funding available to provide subsidised care.
When the AACL’s team arrived at Jackson’s Drift last month, they were surprised to note that many members of the community were already waiting with their pets. Even more unexpected was the number of cats that were there for vaccinating. A quick return trip to the AACL’s hospital had to be undertaken to collect additional cat and dog vaccinations due to the overwhelming response of the community.
The outreach was a collaborative effort with locally based Cause 4 Paws, whose volunteers provided pet food, blankets and collars for every pet owner there that day. They were also responsible for securing sponsorship for the dog vaccinations and deworming that day. Also volunteering and assisting, were two UNISA animal health technician students and their veterinarian, as well as many of the AACL’s staff members who gave up their Sunday to lend a hand and give back to a very grateful community.
Cindy Price, general manager of the AACL Johannesburg said: “It is particularly rewarding to know that what we are doing is working and at the end of the day, really benefiting animals. We have proven this in a number of other areas where we have gone in initially as a pilot study and where it has been so successful that we have continued to be actively involved, on a weekly basis. Jackson’s Drift, a newly identified area with a population of some 18 000 residents will, we hope, benefit significantly from our involvement. Of course, none of this would be possible without the goodwill of our donors and sponsors and our thanks must go to Merial South Africa (Pty) Limited, the sponsors of the cat vaccines, including rabies, and to the very generous trust fund that covered our veterinary costs.”
If you would like further information on the AACL’s outreach programme, contact Sr Cindy Price on 011 435 0672 or email her on: genmanager@aacl-jhbnb.co.za
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