Projects

New Hospital

Our plan for a Veterinary Hospital in Mitchell's Plain on the Cape Flats is underway.

Mitchell's Plain has a population of ± 2.2 million people with each household having an average of 3 pets. The demographic income spectrum ranges from B to D group with a majority falling in the latter group. Unemployment is high and people are therefore reliant on welfare organisations like the PDSA for the veterinary needs for their pets and animals. Every day two mobile clinics visit various areas in Mitchell's Plain where only primary health care is administered. Each mobile clinic treats an average of 75 animals per day. Cases requiring specialised procedures are brought back to the hospital in Bridgetown.

The municipality provides no services in respect of animal health, sterilizations or pest control. The Municipality is eager for the PDSA to provide a hospital service and negotiations are in an advanced stage as regards to the site for this facility. As a result the pricing for the land being negotiated is considered to be generous. The proposed site is located in Bamboo Road, Lentegeur, Mitchell's Plain. The cost of building the hospital is estimated at R1.7 million.

 

Pay for a Spay

The PDSA Pay for the Spay Campaign is well underway. We sterilized 6600 cats and dogs between April 2002 till the end of March 2003. We endeavour to continue to sterilize as many cats and dogs as possible, to curb the animal population explosion and thereby help preventing the spread of diseases. We realize that there are thousands of animals needing our services but unfortunately their owners do not realize that help is available. In keeping with our policy of helping economically disadvantaged communities we regularly provide the rural areas with the necessary staff and equipment to sterilize between 30 to 40 animals per day. The areas visited during the past year were Montagu, Ashton, Zuurbraak and Swellendam. We plan to promote our sterilization program through our ongoing education programs. It was the great Mahatma Gandhi who said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress may be judged by the way its animals are treated".