SASHA Sterilisation Campaign, September 2008
SASHA Sterilisation Campaign, September 2008
(A report of a two-week field trip to sterilise dogs and cats in impoverished communities in South Africa)
Following in the well-trodden footsteps of many visitors to the tourist spots of Cape Town can tell only part of the story of this vibrant and exquisitely beautiful city, which also possesses a dark and less appealing underside. It is tempting to view the well-groomed and cared-for dogs which can be seen getting their daily exercise on beaches and trails as representative of the pet population of the area. Unfortunately, most of the dogs and cats in Cape Town do not live this privileged life: most belong to members of the painfully poor indigenous community, and their daily routine involves coping with malnutrition, being permanently chained or wandering the streets, constant parasitism, perpetual breeding for the females, and the common expectation of being included in semi-organised dog fights for male dogs. Many of the animal owners are inherently frightened of their “pets” and minor acts of cruelty are common.
It is in this world in which SASHA, a Cape Town-based small animal charity co-exists with its patients, having the single aim of improving the lot of the dogs and cats of the indigent human population. Mass sterilisation campaigns are a major part of the charity’s objective, and are pro-actively organised for various townships in and around the city: breeding animals - both male and female – are actively sought out, and transport is provided to a central facility, where they are spayed or castrated, and returned to their owners. Treatment for parasitism (ticks, fleas and worms are almost universally present) is given, as far as funding or donations of medication allow. Advice is supplied where necessary. Trapping of feral cats is also attempted, with sterilisation and subsequent return to the same area afterwards; or euthanasia is carried out if the population is too large or has many cases of enzootic disease such as cat ‘flu.
Of course, this approach requires a constant flow of resources – the cost of running a vehicle, medicines and anaesthetics, suture materials, and funding for a small staff are daily hurdles. One permanent veterinary surgeon, a field worker, one office worker and one general assistant form the entire staff of the charity. Through collaboration with a UK-based animal-welfare charity, the Worldwide Veterinary Service, volunteers are sent on short trips to assist with SASHA’s work. In September 2008 a trip was sponsored which allowed me to take part in two week-long visits to small rural communities on the coast north of Cape Town.
Local unpaid volunteers, who work under a great deal of pressure, with little or no back-up, and day-to-day veterinary assistance often a distant dream, arrange a constant flow of animals to a central hall or school, where a makeshift surgery is set up – preparation and operating tables are organised, and newspapers and blankets arranged to form a recovery area. Surgery is necessarily swift, and minimising expenses without compromising patients is a constant battle. Recycling of syringes, needles and even scalpel blades is routine, with a previous donation of a portable autoclave proving invaluable. The inherent surgical risk has been markedly reduced by the acquisition of a gas anaesthetic machine, again from a donation. Euthanasia is however, a frequent reality, as the only viable option in circumstances where owners have no money for medicines or even the most basic nursing materials.
The final total for our two week-long trips was the sterilisation of 274 dogs and cats, all carried out by two vets and one lay assistant, with no loss of life due to anaesthesia or surgery.
Despite the obvious poverty, people are almost universally grateful for SASHA’s help, with the occasional “Dankie” (“Thank you” in Afrikaans) from a shy child who can speak no English being the best reward they can offer. Hospitality is second-to-none, with food and drinks being freely donated, although even a lukewarm cup of coffee is sometimes a luxury when there is no time to stop!
From a personal point of view, I took part in this neutering campaign with a faint sense of scepticism about the benefits: every evening, driving to our temporary lodgings, we would see more un-neutered animals than could ever be controlled by two vets on occasional week-long visits! Finally however, I came to realise that I should only view our work in relation to each individual animal, a lesson brought home to me from an email which I received from one of our local volunteers on my return home. In it she said “…my heart melted today when I was chatting to one of the youngsters, whose bitch was spayed - she was picking up stones and shells, and sprinting up and down the beach, in a game of fetch & throw! THANK YOU again!” Beach games would have been an unattainable luxury for that animal previously - beleaguered by successive pregnancies, constant mange and parasitism - and for me, somehow, that makes it all worthwhile.
