ANIMAL lover Vukile Fikizolo, 52, from Philippi East is unemployed and was forced to surrender his six cats to the Animal Welfare Society of SA this week because he can no longer afford to keep them.
The Animal Welfare Society said in the past month more than 50 cats and dogs were surrendered, mostly because of the high unemployment rate and people no longer being able to afford to keep them.
Fikizolo’s cat had had five kittens, creating extra mouths to feed, hence his decision to surrender them.
Animal Welfare Society gave him back one of the cats, a male, after it had been sterilised, which he named Head.
“I cannot keep all the animals, because I cannot afford all of them and they are too many for me. I am not working now and it is only my mother who is a provider.
“I asked them to sterilise the male cat so that it doesn’t go outside (for mating) and get attacked by dogs. I will ask them to sterilise a female cat so that Head is not left feeling lonely,” he said..
Fikizolo loved animals as a young boy growing up in the Eastern Cape. He started loving animals at a young age when he was a hunter-gatherer and he used to own many dogs, but he had to move to Philippi in the Cape Flats.
“I started loving animals from then on and that is why I wanted to take care of animals,” he said.
He said he would suggest that a person who cannot take care of a pet any more to at least surrender it to a registered organisation.
John Francis, 64, from Hanover Park had to surrender an 11-month-old dog, Kleintjie, to the Animal Welfare Society.
He rescued the small dog from young children who weren’t taking care of it, and kept it for another eight months. He had to surrender it because he couldn’t afford to look after the pup anymore.
Welfare Society spokesperson Allan Perrins said the organisation had been studying the reasons why pet owners surrendered their pets. The most common was their inability to afford them, followed by relocation of owners.
Cheryl Lyn, who owns a rescue organisation, said she has been taking in abandoned dogs, and with the help of foster volunteers took care of the dogs.
“We are sitting with a high rate of dumped dogs. We find them at the dump sites and we are struggling to find homes for them, because there are so many. People are surrendering their animals because they have lost their jobs and they cannot afford to have animals anymore,” said the owner of Cheryl Lyn’s Rescue Organisation.
She said they would appreciate assistance that would enable them to open a facility for abandoned pets. Although they currently rely on foster volunteers, most people couldn’t keep the pets for a lengthy period of time.
“We wish we could get premises so that we can facilitate more animals and help, but unfortunately we cannot afford it,” she said.
An organisation called Dead Animal Walking helps alleviate suffering by running mass sterilisation and vaccination campaigns in the Western Cape. The founder, Richelle van Wyk, said they go to impoverished areas to promote the well-being of the animals during these campaigns.
“We rescue animals that nobody wants to give a second chance in life. We work across the whole of the Western Cape.
“If there were no (unwanted) puppies born in this world, there would be no more dogs that would be put down because (of insufficient) homes and because of disease. We vaccinate these animals against all the diseases that they can get,” Van Wyk said.
This week the City promulgated its animal keeping by-law.
The City’s Safety and Security portfolio committee chairperson, Mzwakhe Nqavashe, said the law was passed on Thursday, making it mandatory for cats and dogs over the age of six months to be sterilised.
“It is already published on the Government Gazette, but it will take time, as there is a need for a training of law enforcement officers to be able to enforce it,” he said.