Monkeys don’t need your help
Welcome to the second Monthly installment of Life at the SPCA. It has been an exceptionally busy start to the year with Multiple Serious Cruelty Complaints under investigation and we are pursuing prosecutions against the perpetrators of all the alleged animal cruelty. I am happy to report that so far in three of the cases they have been fully investigated, the case files and evidence submitted and are pending and awaiting court dates.
Thank you so much to Frontier Vets and Grahamstown Vets for helping us in providing expert reports on the animals conditions, which is crucial evidence for these types of cases.
In addition, we have been travelling to the outer fringes of our catchment area, to investigate and deal with two serious cases of animal hoarding, involving in excess of 60 animals between the two residential properties and in which the suffering was so extreme that there were multiple issues of disease and severe malnutrition. These properties are still being visited and dealt with, which includes the seizure of the animals as part of our on-going commitment to deal with the individuals and the animals concerned.
We received into our care a vervet monkey, which was being kept illegally without the correct permit or necessary accommodation.
I am happy to say that with the assistance from other welfare partners, the monkey has been transferred to a Rehabilitation Centre in Limpopo. We town Trailer Hire for assisting us in this rescue.
With all the travelling around this month and over the last year, our bakkie tyres finally needed replacing as they had become so low on tread, that they were borderline illegal.
With funds as seriously depleted as they are, we at the SPCA are so grateful to Wesson’s Tyres for coming to our aid and helping to keep our bakkie on the road. With only one operational vehicle, we are under immense pressure and seriously struggle to cover our area. Our bakkie is clocking up the kms at an alarming rate and we desperately need to raise funds to source another bakkie. We are also grateful to Settler City Toyota for carrying out speedy service to reduce our downtime; and to PG Glass for keeping our windscreen chips under control.
Animal adoptions are starting to pick-up and we have some of our kittens reserved to go to new homes. We have received a large influx of animals and if you are prepared for the commitment and are looking for a new pet, please consider us first. All the animals we get in desperately need loving, caring forever homes and it is the greatest gift you can give.
Ticks and fleas are still with us and it is important to ensure that your pets are protected from the serious risk of biliary.
We have seen an alarming number of cases recently with dogs and cats suffering advanced stages of the disease where their survival rate is se- riously diminished. Please be responsible and treat your animals as a form of prevention. Dip baths are available for use at both the SPCA and Grahamstown Vets for this purpose; and there is off-the-shelf medication that can be sourced from Hoof and Hound, and the veterinary practices in town.
As we continue to deal with the challenges of 2017, we continue to be humbled by the continued support from the community and businesses, without which we would not be able to help all the animals in our community and surrounding areas who so desperately need it. We will be tin collecting at Pick and Pay on Saturday 4 Feb (please email Mart-Mari on campus.ru.ac.za if you can help us do a collection) and Fundraising at the Grahamstown Bowling Club Night Bowls event of 21-22 February. We look forward to seeing you there.
For a great way to start the year, why not adopt one of our kennel’s for the year? Details on Facebook.
Please follow us on Facebook and have a look at our adoption photo albums. This is where you will find write ups 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 of the Grahamstown SPCA