Bay stray animals crisis

Stray animals are being left to roam the streets of Nelson Mandela Bay after doors to the municipal pound were shut — following non-payment by the municipality to the Uitenhage SPCA.

The municipal pound operates on the SCPA’s premises.

Left in the lurch, with creditors knocking on the door, the difficult decision to close the pound had to be made, Uitenhage SPCA management committee chair Deirdre Swift said yesterday,

Shut in early December when bills were piling up and supplies running low, both the large and small animal pounds have been affected and, while partial payment has now been made, Swift said the organisation could not open the pound until full payment had been made.

“In the past, I have relented when partial payment was made [and opened again] but I have to stick to my guns this time," she said.

“They [the municipality] must pay, we have a contract with them.

“We get interest added to our accounts, but the municipality says it does not pay interest, so we have the extra costs.”

The results of the only municipal pound in the Bay being closed are dire, Swift said.

“You have livestock on the roads, which is not in the best interest of the animals or for the safety of people.

“Then you have stray livestock that trespass and destroy crops which is a huge cost for farmers.

“It can also result in cruelty to animals as people get angry with the animals destroying their property.”

Swift said when it came to small animals like cats and dogs, no lost or abandoned animals were being brought to the pound from Port Elizabeth as it was closed to animal control officials.

“We do our absolute best, even after hours.

“In Uitenhage and Despatch, we use our private vehicles to pick up strays, but the animals are not coming through from PE. It does impact very badly and there is suffering.

“There is a limit to what we can do.

“We are allowing critically injured animals and those with distemper in and we are not turning the public away, but there is very little we can do without medical supplies and food.” 

Swift said in December suppliers were refusing to provide food and medical supplies until the bills were paid.

She said the organisation was owed about R35,000.

Partial payment had been made in January, which helped alleviate the problem and promises final payment of the arrears would be made today had been made, but “we will wait and see”. 

Payment problems are not new for the SPCA. In 2018 the municipality and the SPCA were locked in a dispute over R161,000, which was finally paid.

At the time, the municipality said it had not made the payment as the society did not meet the requirements of the municipality’s service providers compliance policy.

Acting city manager Noxolo Nqwazi said she had been unaware of the situation and would need to ask the department of public health for answers.

She said: “I will ask them what the temporary solution will be so we can get the pound open and then ask for a long-term solution so we are not in this situation again.

“When the situation was raised two years ago officials should have made plans so that it did not happen again.”

She said that to fully answer questions, however, she would need more information from the department of public health.

DA Nelson Mandela Bay budget and treasury spokesperson Leander Kruger said he had raised the matter with Nqwazi.

In a letter written to Nqwazi,  Kruger said the situation was “untenable and deeply worrying. I request that your office urgently intervene”.