Sterilisation for female dogs in Karoo Communities

VISION

Our aim is to improve the living standards of animals and provide a better quality of life. We feed starving animals; inspect for cruelty and neglect; and rescue, rehabilitate and rehome. A priority is to reduce excessive breeding by providing free sterilisation.

OVERVIEW

The Karoo Animal Protection Society (KAPS) is a volunteer-based mobile animal welfare and protection organisation that operates across a number of small Karoo towns to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals in distress; to improve the living standards and quality of life of animals in disadvantaged areas where there are no veterinary services available; and to educate and inform disadvantaged people about keeping pets in a healthy condition to reduce the transmission of diseases from pets to people, particularly to children, who are most vulnerable.

The project involves a once-off sterilisation campaign in which experienced KAPS volunteer field-workers will visit homes in the towns and on nearby farms to explain the campaign and make appointments or arrangements for collection and delivery of the dogs. Mobile veterinarians' services will be employed to conduct the sterilisations and vaccinations free of charge to the community in a central location in each town over the course of a day. Owners will be assisted with post-operative care and provided with food supplies, and field-workers will continue to monitor the animals' progress and educate the owners on animal welfare.

Sterilising 100 female dogs in these communities will bring about a significant decrease in the number of unwanted, abused, sick, starved and neglected dogs, and will mean that the animals and their owners will be less at risk of disease. Owners will take better care of their dogs when they can no longer replace them with readily available puppies, and communities will benefit from the change of mindset towards responsible ownership and caring relationships with pets.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• It is a simple, straightforward project that will have a lasting impact.
• The educational dimension in promoting animal welfare and responsible pet ownership. Research has shown that uncaring attitudes to animals are reflected in uncaring relationships with wider society, a fact especially important in children growing up. Thus communities will benefit from a change of mindset to more responsible ownership of animals.
• Another important psychological factor in animal ownership is its therapeutic value, especially to the elderly and infirm. Many such people in poor communities do not dare to keep companion animals because small pets are at risk from strays that are aggressive and carry infection and disease. Sterilisation and vaccination, combined with education about pet care can make progress in changing attitudes and building responsible pet ownership.

EXPECTED LIFE CHANGE

An investment of R21 400.00 enables KAPS to carry out the once-off sterilisation and vaccination campaign involving 100 dogs in the Amalienstein, Zoar, Nissenville, Van Wyksdorp, Smitsville, Suurbraak, Buffelsjagrivier, Olivedale, Slangriver and Albertinia areas.

• Approximately 600 household members who own the dogs will benefit from free veterinary services and will be less at risk from disease.
• Owners will also benefit from the education programme that accompanies the vaccinations, learning how to take better care of their animals and forming caring relationships.
• Direct life change at a cost per life of R35.66.

This project has breadth in that it is spread across ten towns, and will sterilise enough dogs to have a significant impact. The project does not have great depth or intensity because of its nature as a once-off campaign, but there will be some follow-up and education of the households from which the animals come. The project definitely has permanence in that sterilisation on a significant scale will undoubtedly bring about a decline in the rate of births of puppies in these areas.

NEED

From the perspective of KAPS, there is a continual problem with breeding of dogs in poor communities where the majority of residents are unemployed and cannot afford to feed and care for their animals properly. This results in a constant stream of unwanted, abused, sick, starved and neglected dogs. The problem of uncontrolled populations of dogs adversely affects not only the animals, which are often uncared for or unwanted and put out to wander the streets'. It also affects the human residents, who are at risk from sick and scavenging dogs, many of which suffer from parasitic infestations that result in zoonosis - transfer of animals diseases to humans, especially children. No other agency in the Karoo area, including local government, takes significant steps to counteract these risks.

STRATEGY

KAPS is the only organisation doing animal welfare work in these small Karoo towns and farming areas. The organisation relies on volunteers and does not have a big budget. Because of these constraints, providing free sterilisation is the most effective strategy for KAPS, as it has the effect of limiting the number of animals needing care.

When animals are fewer, and better fed and cared for, they will be less vulnerable to sickness and injury. Sterilisation also stops the practice of repeated breeding from sick and starving female dogs, worn out by incessant pregnancies. Sterilising animals means that KAPS can allocate more of their scarce funds to rescuing, treating and rehoming animals.

The strategy of sterilisation is also a good one from the municipality's perspective, since when dog populations are under control there will be less pressure to use local government's limited resources for rounding up strays, impounding, euthanasing etc.

ACTION PLAN

Preparation

KAPS field-workers will go from house to house and farm to farm in each selected area, logging female dogs to be sterilised and making appointments and arrangements for collection / delivery. Clinics will be arranged to occur over a two week period, with venues set up and mobile vet services booked in advance.

Implementation

On the day of each clinic the field-workers will collect the dogs from those owners who cannot get to the place of operation, and keep appointments with owners who are able to bring their dogs. They will label each animal and keep track of it from pre-med through to recovery. Arrangements will be made to deliver animals back home.

Monitoring

Owners will be advised on post-operative care and the field-workers will return to each home to remove the stitches. This will allow them to monitor the progress of the dog and provide further education.

RISK PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: The concept of sterilisation is a sound one as the effect on the birth rate is a permanent one, decreasing the number of animals who will be neglected and in need in the future. Vaccination also minimises the risk of diseases spreading amongst animals and to humans. The concept of mobile veterinary services makes sense in poor and geographically isolated communities.
• Design: The design of the campaign using mobile clinics is one which has been practised by KAPS for five years, and in the last year alone 1,000 animals have been sterilised. The clinics are structured to include thorough preparation and follow-up by field-workers and include an educational component.
• Capability: KAPS is staffed by an able co-ordinator and a dedicated group of volunteers. Many of the current group of KAPS volunteers have been involved for several years and have a lot of expertise.
• Control: The organisation has simple administrative systems, but these are transparent and thorough, and are sufficient for the organisation to fulfil its mission and comply with the relevant regulations.
• Sustainability: Sterilisation of the female dogs will last forever, and in that sense is highly sustainable. KAPS's ongoing sterilisation efforts are undoubtedly bringing down the dog population in these areas.

Key Risks

• Capability: There is an inherent risk in an organisation which relies heavily on volunteers to carry out the project, since their commitment cannot be guaranteed. This is mitigated, however, by the fact that the crucial veterinary services for the campaign will be bought in.
• Sustainability: The vaccinations of the animals will need to be repeated at intervals, and further funding will need to be secured for this. Also, because the education component of the campaign is limited, there are no guarantees that treatment of animals will improve as a result.
• External: There is a risk that people continue to bring in dogs from outside these towns for breeding purposes, particularly since this can be a source of income, but this is mitigated by the fact that KAPS's work overt the past five years has built community understanding of and support for their efforts.