The fiercest storm to hit the Western Cape in decades failed to dampen the spirits of a team of animal lovers, who dedicated their Heritage Day celebrations to pet sterilisation last month.
Despite dire level 9 weather warnings, EberVet Community Veterinary Care volunteers and animal welfare groups The Outreach Program (TOP) and Helderberg Animal Rescue Team (HART), crammed into EberVet Pet Clinic in Strand to sterilise 47 animals from impoverished homes on Sunday 24 September.
“It was a day filled with compassion and purpose,” said volunteer Bianca König, who documented the day on video for social media by focusing on a particular dog who lives on the street with his homeless owner. Uncle, of indeterminate breed, was castrated.
He, like all the others sterilised on the day, also received tick and flea protection, deworming, rabies vaccinations, wound and ear checks and had their nails clipped. It was a full-on day of pampering and essential healthcare for these impoverished pets drawn primarily from the Rusthof and Broadlands communities.
As a result of space constraints and the predicted weather conditions, meticulous planning was essential to ensure a free flow of animals and volunteers.
EberVet CEO Dr Hilldidge Beer, who operated on the day, said: “To get people together on a Sunday, a long weekend, in horrible weather, you need special motivation, a special cause and purpose. We were all very much aligned in what we wanted to do and why we were there: everybody pitching in and doing their bit. Where they saw the need, they helped. These are people of calibre and character.”
For animal welfare volunteer Yolande van Wyk it was the impact on the community that was the biggest gain.
“Dogs that usually sleep outside were kept in by their owners for the entire weekend, post-op, some telling me later that their dogs had behaved so well they were going to keep them inside from now on,” she said.
“This dog/owner bonding and owner education on these spay-day offers make them so worthwhile.”
Sam Mann, a TOP volunteer and clinical assistant at EberVet Pet Clinic, said these spay days brought huge relief to poor pet owners. “A lot of people absolutely love their animals, but don’t have the financial means or access to veterinary care that they need.
“At these spay days the sterilisations are free, and when welfare signs them up we are also able to ascertain what other needs their animals have like proper shelter or fencing. These spay days build solid, trusting relationships with the communities we serve.”
Dr Esmare´ van der Walt, senior veterinarian at EberVet Pet Clinic, said the free sterilisations also helped impoverished owners comply with the new City of Cape Town bylaw, which decrees that all dogs and cats six months and older must be sterilised unless the owner obtains a permit from local authorities. “And every animal was vaccinated for rabies, so we’re doing our part for the Zero by 30 Global Rabies Strategic Plan.”
EberVet Vetshop manager Corine Geyser drove 78 km from Hermanus to Strand to offer her assistance. “Being part of that Heritage Day spay day was an absolute blessing. To give back to the community, to make a change in an animal’s life, to see the gratitude on the owners’ faces; this was something wonderful,” she said.
All EberVet Vetshops and EberVet vet clinics participated in their own “Paws for a Cause” campaign to generate funds for the spay day and product suppliers donated thousands of Rands’ worth of medication and preventive treatments.
