A Nelson Mandela Bay Mayoral initiative saw over 200 dogs spayed in one day, possibly breaking a record in the process and definitely making SA history!
Carol-Ann Kelleher from Algoa FM is a passionate and dedicated animal lover. She is an animal rescue volunteer and was recently involved in one of South Africa’s largest ever “Spay-a-thons”.
“A couple of weeks ago I was involved in a Nelson Mandela Bay Mayoral initiative. In one day… 17 vets from all over South Africa converged on the Motherwell Township Community and in one day, over 200 township dogs were sterilised! That is a world record!”
“Obviously all the dogs spayed belonged to folk who could not afford to have their dogs sterilised. It was an impressive operation… any civilised and caring society has to control its animal population… our Mayor heeded our calls and together with shelters across the city this mammoth feat was pulled off.”
The initiative was launched to help assist the Motherwell Township Community to get some control over the number of puppies being born. By hosting the “spay-a-thon”, they also assisted families that couldn’t afford to pay for the procedure themselves.
According to Happy Tails Magazine, the entire initiative was funded by a mayoral resolution. A total of R250,000 has been made available. Another 450 dogs will be sterilised over the coming months. The magazine also confirmed that thanks to various donors, each family was given a small pack containing some food and a blanket.
In April 2017, we shared a story about the Animal Allies who partnered with the Bromhof veterinary clinic and spayed a total of 105 animals on the day. This Motherwell spay-a-thon seems to be the biggest one to date.
“This needs to happen in other cities across SA and even in the world. We have checked and it seems to be a world record!” – Carol-Ann Kelleher
Carol-Ann hopes that the success of this day will spread across South Africa and people will start initiating these sterilisation days in their own towns. We hope so too!
In fact, recently the Cape of Good Hope SPCA started their annual Mass Animal Sterilisation Project (MASP) funded by the City of Cape Town. Over a period of 14 weeks, they performed 1, 450 animals sterilsation procedures and vaccinations.
This ongoing programme is a vital component in the fight against cruelty by offering continued education of pet owners in order to highlight the importance of sterilisation, basic pet care ( i.e. supplying adequate food, water and shelter) and veterinary care to ensure a healthy environment for both animals and humans alike.
If you have anything like this planned in your town, let us know how, when and where people can get involved.
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