The Harare Spca continues to work with an increasing number
of animals needing help in Zimbabwe. The difficult economic climate has led to
many animals being surrendered to us . Owners can no longer afford to keep
their pets . Most of the female cats and dogs that are surrendered to us are
either pregnant or have large litters of babies they are struggling to feed (
as they themselves are severely undernourished and neglected.)
Our new and necessary projects include a free spay and
neuter campaign ( for low wage earners who cannot afford to have their pets
sterilized ) and an education program.
We will be looking for donations in order to be able to
run a “SPONSOR A SPAY CAMPAIGN “ . Statistics show that a single
pair of cats and their progeny can theoretically grow to a number of
approximately 66 000 cats in six years. This sadly applies to dogs too. A
pair of dogs will usually produce a litter of 6 to 12 puppies every six
months. These will begin to breed within six to eight months
and produce further litters. Again, theoretically, a pair of dogs and their
progeny will produce 67 000 dogs in a period of six years. In Harare alone,
there are hundreds of dogs and cats that are breeding continuously.
The majority of these pups and kittens do not stand the slightest chance of a
decent life. They will suffer and die at a very young age. By sponsoring just
one spay you can make a difference to the suffering.
A door to door survey we have carried out revealed that in
some medium density suburbs not even 10% of dogs are sterilized or vaccinated.
Many of these pups come into the Spca riddled with preventable diseases. They
are usually too far gone to save. If they do pull through we cannot find homes
for them. This is a vicious circle we intend, wholeheartedly ,to break. The
only way we can overcome this problem is with your help. Our inspectors spend
days on the roads picking up strays or confiscating puppies being sold by
vendors. The nightmare will not stop unless we are offered help to try and deal
with the situation. We do not have the funds to undertake these important
measures without assistance.
We are also looking for a few dedicated volunteers to join a
subcommittee of the Harare Spca, that that will reach out to all areas and help
by educating people on good animal husbandry. We are fortunate to have a
volunteer who has worked in this field in other countries and she has offered
to head a committee and train the volunteers to teach the public about the care
of pets. We would like to start working in schools, educating children from
junior up to high school levels. We need people who speak both English and
Shona to visit schools and talk to the children.
Without education we will never reach our goal of
running a NO KILL SHELTER where animals are only with us for a short time
before being re homed to responsible , caring owners. Presently we hold up to
100 cats and 100 dogs. Ideally they should not live in cages. They suffer
from depression and kennel stress which manifests itself in many ways. Stray
dogs miss their freedom, but are safe and have full tummies and veterinary
care. Previously owned dogs do not cope well. The look of pure desperation
in their eyes goes beyond description. The visibly thirst for human contact in
the form of affection and attention. When visitors pop in to our re homing
kennels the dogs do everything in their capacity to attract attention. They
bark, wag their tails and try to climb the fencing. They chew holes in their
enclosure so they can stick their heads out for a pat. Sadly , we have also
watched some of the animals in our care literally curl up into a ball and give
up on life. They shut down. They seem to sense that there is no hope.
Then the kindest thing to do is to put them out of their misery.
Once again we can only appeal to the public to spay and
neuter their beloved pets. Cats and dogs do not need to have “ just one
litter”. Some of the pups and kittens given or sold to good homes WILL end up
in our kennels. Some of the pups WILL end with indiscriminate breeders
and will produce litter after litter without a break until they become
too weak and ill to carry on. Then they will be tossed out onto the
streets to fend for themselves . The pups end up being advertised for sale in
newspapers and on the internet. Most of them will suffer. They will not
be looked after and they will eventually be dumped when the novelty of owning a
dog has worn off. We have been taking in Toy Poms, Maltese, JRs, German
Shepherds , Boerbuls , Rotties and many more. No one ever comes to look for
them. Some are lost, some are stolen and some just run away from the hell they
have been living in. We at the SPCA have to make the best choices for
these needy animals. The choices are often very difficult ones. Euthanasia is a
very controversial subject but the truth is that we are only sorting out
problems created by people who do not take responsibility for their pets.
PLEASE HELP US TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF ALL THE
NEGLECTED ANIMALS THAT ARE SUFFERING IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER. IF YOU CANNOT
ADOPT HELP US IN ANY WAY YOU CAN.
REPORT CRUELTY, SPAY AND
NEUTER. ADOPT DON’T
SHOP. SPONSOR OUR
CAMPAIGNS BE A VOICE FOR THOSE WHO
CANNOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
