Africa-Press – Seychelles. People celebrating their birthdays can now donate money through a birthday pledge initiated by the Seychelles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) to support their nationwide campaign towards animal welfare.
The public are being invited to either pledge an amount of money or animal supplies, which will be due on their birthday.
The person also has the option to bank the transfer or use a POS at the SSPCA. Additionally, this can be done by businesses.
According to SSPCA’s representative, Chloe de Speville, the pledge, which started in January and will end in December, is open to anyone, including visitors.
However, for those under the age of 16, a local guardian or parent must sign on behalf of the child.
“We do not discriminate on what you want to donate, if you come in with R500 or even R12, we will take it.”
The money and items will go towards renovations, such as new cat houses, new sets of toys for the animals and animal food.
However, Ms de Speville explained that the ongoing costs for the shelter is what can also take up some of the fundraising.
“Sometimes when we get the donations, it bleeds into the daily running of the shelter,” she explained.
Ms de Speville stated that while fundraising through book sales and bake sales did help out, it was only a viable short term success. The birthday pledge is seen as a long-term, sustainable initiative.
This is the first pledge done by the SSPCA and Ms de Speville explained that it works on the principle that during the celebration period of someone’s birthday they have more money to spend. The tactical side of the pledge is “Not like we are asking people to give money at a random time of the month but this is with the intention that they can afford to give and it is strategic in its endeavours”.
The SSPCA is currently working in collaboration with an NGO called “BeKind”, which promotes kindness to all living things. This would supplement and help the SSPCA by having “more hands on deck”. As it is set up, the funds gained through the NGO can evenly be distributed towards all its partners including SSPCA.
Meanwhile, according to Ms de Speville, a lot of animals have a place to go to for food and are loved by people but do not have a shelter and cannot necessarily be taken in.
“If you look at the pictures of the poisoned dogs, some of them had collars, some were even sterilised, so it was not necessary for it to go about that way. Legislation always has to be the forefront of things because from the top we need to lead by example.”
She went on to explain that if that door is opened whereby animals are treated the same way as vermin, it could have potential dire consequences.
“It is just about us opening up our hearts but also thinking with our heads.”
She explained that instead of jumping to extreme and violent methods, alternate methods such as supporting the animal shelters can help the stray population.
There has been conversations with relevant ministers regarding this topic and meetings with various stakeholders.
“These conversations need to keep on happening so we do not lose sight of the grand picture. The poisoning are a very short term solution and does not address the problem. It is also a very narrow minded way of thinking,” said Ms de Speville, adding there should be more focus on sterilisation.
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