Maria Amakali
Windhoek-With financial difficulties mounting, times getting harder and people losing their jobs and homes, more people are giving up their pets to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) as they can no longer afford to keep them.
SPCA manager, Sylvia Breitenstein noted that keeping any pet is costly.
“It costs approximately N$100 per dog per day. The dog needs a blanket, a place to stay, food and water every day. All these things cost money,” explained Breitenstein, adding that one still needs to add the cost of taking the pet for regular check-ups with the vet.
Breitenstein cited two rats that were in a cage saying:“The owner brought them because he could no longer afford to look after them. They came in malnourished.”
The SPCA relies on donations, money made from yard sales, boarding fees and selling t-shirts.
As a charitable organization which aims to protect and prevent cruelty towards animals in Namibia, the organization currently has 15 volunteers and is home to 140 dogs and cats respectively, one rabbit, one pigeon and two rats.
According to Breitenstein the organization gets around 140 cats and 150-250 dogs which are either stray or borders monthly. For January the organization has taken in 77 dogs, both strays and surrendered already.
“Cats used to be much less in the pass but now the number has picked up. We used to receive 50 cats a month but now for instance for October November, December we received 140 cats for each month,” noted Breitenstein.
With a majority of the pets at the organization up for adoption, Breitenstein explained that more and more people are becoming adoptive parents to the pets, with about 20 dogs and cats getting homes through the process. She indicated that their screening process is rather strict as they want to make sure that at the end of the day the pets get a good home where they will be happy as well as the owner.
“We inspect the house and do a thorough background on the person that wants to adopt a pet from us. Our criteria is so strict that some people get offended when we tell them that they are not qualified to adopt,” said Breitenstein.
There is an adoption fee of N$1270 for a dog and N$160 for a cat, which the adoptive parent pays for services such as two vaccinations for a fee of N$800, a microchip costing N$400, deworming costing N$40 -N$140 and sterilization which normally costs N$1500.
“All these services have to be done before the animal leaves with its adoptive parents. It is very important to note that the adoptive process is free, you are only paying for the services rendered by the vet,” she narrated.
The organization is currently looking into the possibility of moving in order to accommodate the growing number of pets.
“For now, we are fine but we are looking into the idea of moving,” said Breitenstein