Volunteers always welcome
Welcome to the third monthly instalment of Life at the SPCA. We are delighted to report that we successfully prosecuted an individual for stabbing an innocent dog with no justification and causing significant injury. We are pleased that the dog has made a full recovery and that justice has been served.
We hope this sends a strong message that we will not tolerate any form of animal cruelty. There are still several outstanding cruelty cases pending prosecution and we are hopeful that justice will be served against the individuals responsible for these acts.
We have in the past week received into our care a kitten who was rescued from a tree where she was having stones thrown at her.
She is suffering from extreme trauma and is undergoing treatment for a secondary condition which has, we believe been exacerbated by the stress of this traumatic experience.
In addition to this, another cat was brought in to us with a shattered upper jaw, which we believe was also deliberately inflicted. We made the decision to treat this sweet cat for this injury and she is recovering well with her multitude of stitches.
As with all the animals in our care, we gratefully appreciate any and all donations that allow us to continue to help animals such as these SPCA found itself being publicly attacked on social media.
This was particularly distressing as the comments were very personal and one-sided and deliberately designed to undermine the work that we do within the community.
The Grahamstown SPCA chose not to respond on social media, as we felt that this would be very unprofessional and would give the instigators the publicity they wanted. However we would like to remind people that the SPCA is not and never has been responsible for the collection of stray/ lost animals. As detailed in Section 4 of the municipal by-law relating to impounding of animals (which is available on the Makana website) it says:
“Any person upon whose land an abandoned, lost or stray animal is found, may deliver such animal to the nearest pound or such other pound designated by the municipality.”
To use SPCA funds to carry out this role is and always has been a misuse of our funding and resource. We sincerely hope that this clarifies this misunderstanding and that should anyone require stray animals to be collected that Makana provide this service through the Parks Department on 046 603 6072 (out of hours 046 622 4444).
For this reason, we do not collect uninjured strays, but you are welcome to drop them off at the Grahamstown SPCA.
Humbled
Our next fundraising event will be at the Grahamstown Bowling Club Night Bowls Final on 10 March where we will be announcing the winner(s) of our raffle. We look forward to hopefully seeing you there. We are so humbled and grateful for all the continued sup- port of our community with the blankets, food, money, books and other items for our shop and the support of local businesses who help to keep our bakkie running and provide much needed assistance with grounds maintenance, cat litter, building materials and all manner of other services and products, without which we would not be able to carry out the work that we do. Currently, however, the roof of our offices has suffered with significant weather damage and we are desperately looking for R3 000 to repair it. Thank you so much for your continued support for your SPCA.
Ticks and fleas are continuing to thrive in this hot weather and so please ensure that your pets are being protected with suitable flea and tick repellents. The SPCA and Grahamstown vets provide dipping facilities for a nomi- nal donation.
How about getting involved with your SPCA Centre and give the greatest gift you can by volunteering. We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help out at the Grahamstown SPCA Centre, with fundraising and many, many other roles.
For more information please come in and chat to one of our enthusiastic staff.
Please follow us on Facebook and have a look at our adoption photo albums. This is where you will find writeups and pictures of all the animals we have up for adoption.
For all queries including emergencies, please contact us on 046 622 3233. For general enquiries, please email us: Opening hours 9–4 weekdays, 9–12 Saturdays and 9–11 Sundays.
• Mark Thomas is the manager, SPCA