THE SPAYATHONS CONTINUE.
March was a busy month – Dr Yvonne and Barrington were joined by a team from England comprising 2 veterinarians, Drs Helen Appelboam and Heather Waring, and 1 vet nurse, Bob Dawson. Lambert’s Bay Animal Welfare had asked us for help because they have NO local vets and so no-one to sterilise any animals.
Helen and Heather arrived at Cape Town International Airport on the morning of Sunday 2nd March where they were welcomed by Yvonne, loaded into the car and immediately transported to Lambert’s Bay.
No time to check out the sights of Cape Town at this stage. A trip to Bird Island in Lambert’s Bay, however, was squeezed in on Sunday afternoon and then Barrington and Bob arrived with the bakkie loaded with the equipment needed for the week. We then went and set cat traps outside a local café where a few feral cats were busy breeding. We stayed in the Lambert’s Bay Hotel – many thanks to them for putting us up free of charge. Bright and early on Monday morning we set up our ‘operating room’ in temporary premises, a hall in Lambert’s Bay.
The traps were checked and 1 feral cat brought in which was sterilised first, then animals from the impoverished area of LB started arriving in force. The week was hectically busy. Helen and Heather both work in private practice in England and usually only spay 3 or 4 animals a week. Hats off to them for adapting to ‘Spayathons South Africa’. On Wednesday evening we packed all our kit and moved on to Eland’s Bay, where we were welcomed at the Eland’s Bay Hotel. Once again, the accommodation was comfortable and free of charge, we were just asked to assist them with sterilising some feral cats which had made their home around the Hotel. So again we set some traps and the following morning started our work by sterilising the ferals.
As we were sterilising these, the frenzy started again as dogs and cats from the local poor community started arriving… along with their millions of accompanying parasites. In all my years of welfare work I have never seen tick infestations like I saw in Eland’s Bay. Fortunately we had a generous donation of Frontline from Merial SA so at least we could provide some temporary relief from the burden. With 2 vets operating and one as anaesthetist, in 5 days in Lambert’s Bay and Eland’s Bay between us we spayed 82 bitches and 42 cats and neutered 25 male dogs and 14 male cats. We also treated several for injuries and several animals were euthanased because of ill health. Many thanks to Michelle’s team in Lambert’s Bay and the team in Eland’s Bay who had to jump in at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances – well done Guy, Freddie, Janine and Samantha and all the others for their tireless hard work, and for the excellent hospitality in both towns.
And thanks to Cheryl and Jolene for their continuing work in Eland’s Bay – no escape for you next time! The main downside to this trip is, despite the large number of animals sterilised in a short time, there are still many more which need sterilising. We are trying to organise another trip ASAP - or the breeding will continue and all our hard work will have been in vain. Anyone who may be interested in helping practically or financially (transport costs to get there and anaesthetic costs are the main outlays) please contact us. We returned to Cape Town and the visitors managed to get in a bit of sight-seeing on Saturday while I reorganised and sterilised kits again.
On Sunday 9th March Helen and I completed the Pick n Pay Argus Cycle Tour – we had got a few sponsors so this also raised some funds for our work. Then Monday morning saw us back on the road and off to Voorberg Prison in Porterville. A population explosion of feral cats was in the offing so late in 2007 I visited the prison to check out the size of the problem. At this time I visited a number of the prisoners who had “adopted” cats which were now living as tame pets in their cells and several other areas such as the laundry room. All the prisoners that I spoke to seemed to care for their cats and were worried that I had come to take them away. It was clear to me that some education regarding their care would be useful and, clearly, available resources such as access to essential primary health care (for example de-worming medication) were almost non-existent. On arriving at the prison in the afternoon we set up all our kit up in a temporary operating facility and then set 12 cat traps in a section near the prison kitchen. The following morning we had 12 cats in the traps, which we proceeded to sterilise and ear-tip to release later.
The warders went and collected a number of cats from the cells and we continued sterilising, de-worming, vaccinating and de-fleaing throughout the day. 15 of the kittens were only around 6 weeks old, but even at this age we were able to successfully sterilise them and they all recovered from the anaesthesia and surgery very well. We re-set traps in the evening and continued our operations for the next couple of days, also sterilising some dogs which lived on the prison property.
Karen, an animal behaviourist who assists with our work on a voluntary basis, joined us for a day to initiate an education programme for the prisoners. We trapped, sterilised (and ear tipped) 14 feral cats. We also trapped 5 feral cats which were euthanased due to ill health. A further 73 cats and 27 dogs which lived in the prison or on the prison property were sterilised, (a total of 114 animals sterilised in 3 days). All in all this makes 277 sterilisations for the two week trip – very many thanks to the UK team and to Worldwide Veterinary Service (www.wvs.org.uk), a UK charity, which organised the team. MAY spayathons: Malmesbury 69 cats sterilised and Khayelitsha 77 dogs and 21 cats sterilised.
We are organising more spayathons and we need your help
On the day we need people to:
• check animals in and record owners’ details;
• watch animals recover from anaesthetic to ensure they are ok – it is essential to have assistants to watch that they are breathing easily and not having any post-anaesthetic problems such as vomiting;
• collect and return animals for the many pet owners who have no transport;
• assist with packing up kit and cleaning up at the end of the day.
We also need financial support to pay for the anaesthetics, etc.
You can make a direct deposit into our account or set up a regular stop order
– please use reference ‘spayathon’ and let us know if you require acknowledgement or a receipt.
We have a list of volunteers who are willing to give up a little time on occasion
– please let us know if you would like to join the list.
NEXT KHAYELITSHA SPAYATHON: 16th AUGUST 2008.
Sterilisation figures this year so far: 683
Jan 1st – June 4th: southern suburbs incl Masiphumelele, Ocean View, Westlake – 86
Other areas: February: Khayelitsha – 92
March: Lambert’s and Eland’s Bay – 163
Porterville - 114
April: Ladismith – 32
May: SASHA working with ARO – 29 (ARO sterilised 194 in the Dunoon/JoeSlovo spayathon)
May: Malmesbury Prison and Hospital - 69
May: Khayelitsha - 98
ARGUS CYCLE TOUR
Very many thanks for all the wonderful support we had for the Pick n Pay Argus Cycle Tour; with some late payments coming in we managed to raise just over R47,000, which included an anonymous R20,000 from one generous sponsor!
To our handyman, David Irving, a huge thank you – he has done an enormous amount of voluntary work, fixing all sorts of things!
DOC’S REPORT
Pruritus - the posh word for itching!
From time to time people mention to me that their dog is driving them mad because he is scratching all the time. If he is scratching all the time perhaps they should consider that he is driving himself mad as well – or something is! And even consider the possibility that he is suffering more than they are…
There are many, many causes of itching in dogs and cats but one of the commonest ones is the presence of external parasites and – particularly commonly - fleas. Fleas are very common in this area and owners often say the product they are using isn’t working because, despite treatment, they still see fleas on their pets.
I quote from a report from Professor Michael Dryden regarding the reasons for perceived product failure:
• existing environmental infestation with continued emergence of fleas for several weeks after treatment is initiated;
• clients believing that products repel fleas or kill fleas within minutes;
• product not applied monthly;
• product not applied to all household dogs and cats;
• product not applied according to proper dosing rate, or a single pipette split between pets;
• product not applied correctly (direct contact with skin with spot-on products).
Additional points to remember:
• with intensive flea pressure, even minor lapses in compliance can result in the impression of product failure;
• when compliance is good and problems persist, a ‘hot-spot’ of flea infestation may exist on the premise;
• the concurrent application of an adulticide (i.e. kills the adult fleas) with an ovicide (i.e. kills the eggs), such as an insect growth regulator, along with appropriate mechanical measures is the optimal approach for killing existing fleas, preventing re-infestation, and inhibiting the development of resistance.
My experience tells me that owners sometimes think it is not necessary to treat their cats as they only see fleas on their dogs, and they don’t see the cat scratching. However, cats are very good at disguising things – they are efficient at removing the fleas so, although they may have fleas on them intermittently and may have received bites, the owner may not find the evidence, and they may not groom themselves in their owner’s presence.
So… treat all your cats and dogs as directed and if necessary treat the environment as well. And remember your other less common pets – for example, rabbits can carry fleas too. However, be careful – some flea products that are safe to use on dogs can kill cats and other species – always read the directions. I see massive parasite burdens on many of my patients from the impoverished communities – many thanks to Merial South Africa for their continuing support to assist these less fortunate animals.
Dr Yvonne Robson
School Report
During February we visited Kleinberg Primary School in Ocean View and spoke to 140 enthusiastic Grade 2 learners. We also visited Sun Valley Primary in April.
Then in May the team visited Ukhanyo Primary in Masiphumelele several times, and another 222 children viewed the educational DVD and received guidance on pet care. Vicky the dog had a great time as usual!
We are still looking for volunteers to assist with the school programme.
Welfare for ALL animals
Dr Yvonne Robson has recently been appointed as the chairperson of the South African Veterinary Association Welfare Committee. Animal Welfare is increasingly being recognised as an important topic in many countries worldwide and this includes not just pets but all animals. Much work needs to be done here in South Africa and we are hoping that this appointment will help achieve an improvement in living conditions for animals.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) states that the future of animal welfare lies in achieving international recognition that animals matter. WSPA is seeking this in the form of a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW), which would be an agreement among people and nations that:
• Animals are sentient and can suffer;
• Animals’ welfare needs must be respected;
• Animal cruelty must end for good.
Please consult http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/udaw/ for further details.
Printing of our newsletter is kindly sponsored by The Science Press - scientific and technical editing, illustration, proofreading and typesetting. Tel: (021) 789 2331, email: info@thesciencepress.com; www.thesciencepress.com
A Tale of Two Puppies
A member of public asked us to visit Westlake as he thought there were many dogs breeding and unwanted puppies were the result. So, with Di from the WUCT guiding us around the area, we stopped to chat to a few people and check out a few dogs.
A local asked me to have a look at a dog that had been injured - the neighbours thought that another dog had attacked it. It was lying on the doorstep with a very swollen neck and foreleg, very thin and unable to stand. I was contemplating what action to take when the neighbour asked me to look at two more dogs in the back yard. These two were in better body condition but confined to a small area with inadequate shelter, faeces everywhere, rotting food in an old wheel and no water. I took some photos while Barrington fetched some water - then I climbed over the barricade and they drank greedily.
As I was returning to the first dog I was stopped again - a man lifted a board lying on top of a cracked, filthy, upturned crate. Through the holes in the crate I saw a puppy’s pleading eyes looking at me. A second crate next to this one revealed a second puppy. The pups were about 4 months old and too tall to be able to stand upright under the crates.
When I lifted the crates I saw the small area they were confined to was covered in trampled faeces. Very underweight and no sign of any food or water - on a hot day, to boot - and flies were swarming everywhere. The pups were clinically a little dehydrated and with no way of getting in touch with the owner, I removed them and the big dog and took them to the SPCA and filed a complaint and asked an inspector to visit.
Why? Why did he want these puppies?
An SPCA Inspector visited the property the following day and, because of the appalling state of the remaining dogs’ living conditions, issued a 24 hour warning. The follow-up visit showed a startling improvement in conditions. The area had been cleaned up - rotting food and faeces removed and the dogs given more freedom. Although not complete, the dogs’ kennels had been partially mended to provide some shelter. The owner appeared to be making every attempt to rectify the situation and cooperate with the SPCA.
Meanwhile the two puppies that I confiscated have been put up for adoption at the SPCA. This tale appears to have a happy ending, but we will do spot-checks to ensure that standards remain acceptable.
Once again, this illustrates the need for our “door-to-door” approach in the communities. The SPCA has a mobile clinic which visits Westlake but, whilst it is of great service to the community, it does not find cases such as these as their clinic has a fixed venue.
Once again, we at SASHA appeal to you to assist us in our campaigns. Please set up a regular stop order each month to give us a fixed monthly income so we know we can continue the work. If anyone is able to organise any discounted fuel for our bakkie (unleaded petrol) please contact us.
BOOKS, BOOKS AND WE NEED MORE BOOKS!!
Thank you all so much for your generous donations of books. Book sales have done well with proceeds amounting to R7395 since sales started, so PLEASE keep those book donations coming. Please diarise our book sales happening at Long Beach on 12 June, 3 July and 7 August.
HELP DESPERATELY NEEDED to sort and price bric-a-brac and clothes, PLEASE CALL US. The garage sale in April netted R4,660 – these sales are very useful for their income – please help us to maximize this!
MANY MANY THANKS TO LORRAINE HOLLOWAY FOR ALL HER HARD WORK SORTING AND SELLING
Your legacy for a better world
Your Will is a way to ensure that your loving care continues far beyond your lifetime. By leaving a bequest to the Sunnydale Animal Sterilisation and Health Association in your Will, your kindness will continue to touch the lives of so many abused and neglected animals in the poorer communities for many years to come.
A bequest can take the form of a cash lump sum; a house, motor vehicle, jewellery, artwork; proceeds of a life assurance policy that you no longer need; a percentage of your estate or the residue of your estate after all other bequests have been paid.
Please let us know if you wish to consider such a kind gesture.
Untill next time.....
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