Drive to sterilise stray animals in Cape Town

INTERNATIONAL Homeless Animals’ Day is celebrated worldwide today, and the Animal Welfare Society (AWS) are looking to do their part to lower the population of stray animals in Cape Town.

The Mass Animal Sterilisation Project is a campaign AWS are rolling out where they will be sterilising 30 stray animals per week, starting from Monday.

The project is funded by the Rolf Stephan Nussbaum Foundation, Euromonitor International, and the City of Cape Town Health Department, and will be tackling two of the areas within the municipality worst affected by the issue.

Allan Perrins, resource development and communications officer at AWS, said: “I was made aware of the pet overpopulation problem in Elsies River and Mitchells Plain and I knew that something had to be done.”

The City of Cape Town has been throwing its weight behind similar animal campaigns since 2013, providing financial aid to organisations such as the SPCA.

To date, the City’s Health Department has provided more than R2 million in funding to sterilisation projects in areas including Brown’s Farm and Khayelitsha.

Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Safety, Security and Social Services, Alderman JP Smith, said: “How we treat our animals says a lot about us as people.

“There are too many unsterilised and poorly cared for animals roaming our streets. The City has backed mass sterilisation campaigns in the last five years.”

AWS will start off the campaign in Elsies River this coming Monday, before eventually moving on to the Mitchells Plain area.

“As a pet owner, I am very happy to see the level of care and commitment involved in this initiative to minimise the harm and suffering of these often vulnerable animals.

“We are also proud to support organisations such as the Animal Welfare Society and the Cape Animal Welfare Forum,” said Smith.