SPCA on death row
Laurie Smith - Zululand Observer
IF nothing positive happens within the next few days, the Empangeni SPCA will be forced to shut its gates.
Society Manager, Cheryl Whittaker, said the situation is ‘critical’.
This means that should a sponsor or donor not come forward with an immediate solution, all of the sixty plus animals under the Society’s care at any one time, may have to be euthanised.
Five of the seven staff members who will lose their jobs have been dedicated to the Society since the 1980s.
The impoverished owners of the two thousand rural animals they treat each month for wounds, dipping and emergency care, will have nobody to turn to.
Economy
The coffers are empty and the Society’s food bill alone is around R9 000 a month.
Whittaker says the situation has been worsened by the current economic climate, which has seen small monthly donors unable to continue to support the SPCA.
‘Animals are being donated at an alarming rate and we have to feed them until such time as we can re-home them.
‘People do not give us any money towards their upkeep and don’t seem to think that they need to, but they are quick to point out that they want the animals re-homed and not euthanised’.
She said call-outs to collect unwanted animals from rural areas are also on the increase.
‘We just aren’t coping.
‘I will not draw a salary this month, and will use that money to buy food and medications we so desperately need in order to keep offering our services for as long as possible.
‘More than that I cannot do without financial help,’ she said.
Solution
One solution to the problem is for the Empangeni and Richards Bay SPCAs to amalgamate.
‘We have discussed it before, as we own the land we are on at the moment.
‘We considered selling and moving closer to the centre of the City, creating one Umhlathuze SPCA,’ she said.
But this will require massive start-up capital.
‘We have to make an urgent appeal to the corporates in the City to please come forward and save this Society,’ she said.
How can you help?
The Empangeni SPCA website (www.empangenispca.co.za) has a link for potential donors to follow. The SPCA is registered as a Section 18A Society, which means all donations are tax deductible, Please let us us know if you require a receipt for tax purposes.
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