Lawyers have rushed to support the SPCA in Kariega, which faces eviction after the municipality awarded a new pound contract, raising concerns about animal welfare amid controversial and rapid procurement processes. Lawyers from as far as Johannesburg have offered free legal support to the SPCA in Kariega in Nelson Mandela Bay, which faces eviction in under 30 days after the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality controversially awarded a contract for a new service provider to run the municipal pound following a short emergency procurement process in December. The SPCA has been operating in Nelson Mandela Bay for the past 110 years, and from the Kariega premises for the past 50 years.
SPCA chairperson Deirdre Swift said that after the organisation indicated it might require legal assistance, she had received calls from 15 law firms, an attorney in Johannesburg and an advocate, all ready to help. “We will take a decision as a matter of urgency soon on this issue,” she said. Swift said they had not been informed of any plans to look after the animals, mostly stray cats and dogs, that are currently in the care of the SPCA.
“I am so worried that suffering and cruelty will follow,” she said. “The municipality’s defence is that we didn’t apply for the tender. But their time frames were totally unreasonable.” She said that after they found out that a request for proposals had been issued under truncated time frames, they asked for an extension, but this was ignored.
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The municipality refused to divulge the new operator’s business registration certificate and other information, telling her that it was confidential. Councillors have also struggled to get written information about the new operators. “But they insist all is transparent,” said Swift.
“We still have many questions. Who is going to look after the animals during the day? There was only one person here for the handover meeting.
What will happen to all the animals once they pass the seven-day stray period? Are they just going to give them to people unsterilised?” She said the SPCA had permission to put the animals up for adoption after seven days and to sterilise them.
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