SPCA fundraising hits R700,000, but what is the metro really doing?

If ever there was proof that compassion can travel faster than municipal bureaucracy, it lies in the nearly R700,000 raised for the Uitenhage SPCA in just 14 days. From Kariega to the UK, from neighbourhood tuck shops to donors in New Zealand, people have opened their hearts. When the municipality falters, communities often fill the gap.

That is what has happened here again in Nelson Mandela Bay. Uitenhage SPCA chair Deirdre Swift said the Bay community and even people living abroad had dug deep to help save the dogs and cats that may otherwise have been put down. Swift said they still needed to raise a further R2m to move into their new home before the February 20 deadline submitted by the municipality.

The fundraising drive tells a powerful story, but there is a downside. The section of the pound that houses large animals remains mostly empty, and the clinic is not yet functional. The SPCA staff who were removed from their offices are at present operating from two small containers on site.

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The municipality insists the pound is “fully operational”. Animal welfare organisations say it is not. Even the new service provider appointed to run the municipal pound has admitted it is off to a slow start. The municipality argues that continuity has been maintained and that procurement processes are underway.

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