Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Cape of Good Hope SPCA was recently awarded the Global Excellence Award as the best animal welfare non-profit organisation (NPO) in the country at the LUXlife Pet Product and Services Awards.
The award followed the organisation’s work over the past 150 years as well as several innovations launched in the past year.
These include the launch of the SPCA retail store, featuring a first-of-its-kind tasting station for pets to choose their own food according to their palate, and the recent #DontLoseYourLove microchipping campaign derived from data published by Euromonitor International. The SPCA also initiated the Rising Stars initiative, aimed at taking service delivery to people via mobile clinic services in high deprivation areas.
The judging panel consisted of people from a diverse academic background in business, economics, politics, media, journalism, history and education.
SPCA spokesperson Shane Everts said they were “surprised and humbled” to have received such a prestigious award.
“We are delighted to receive international recognition. The organisation and its staff are often subjected to trying and challenging circumstances. Our inspectors face intimidating and often threatening situations where animals are at risk or in distress. This award means a great deal to know that our work and effort to prevent cruelty to animals are recognised,” added Everts.
Everts said the SPCA was not funded by government, and therefore the vast majority of its work on the front lines of the fight against animal cruelty would not be possible without the support of donors.
The LUXlife Pet Product and Services Awards, launched in 2018, seeks to acknowledge individuals, organisations and enterprises who strive to make an outstanding contribution to the pet industry, representing the most dedicated of pet caretakers and providers.
The SPCA is a high-volume facility, the largest in the country, and sees on average 45 000 cases per year, of which more than 60% present as moderate to severe.
Everts said:
He added that the quality of care was being maintained at a high clinical standard aligned with international best practices.
“The animal hospital has a capacity of several hundred cages, overseen by four veterinarians. Each veterinarian can manage 80 to 100 cases per day, of which 15 to 20 are surgeries,” Everts said.
According to the SPCA, there are 228 822 registered NPOs in South Africa, of which 23 492 are located in the Western Cape.
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“In Cape Town only, more than 200 of those registered NPOs are animal welfare organisations. This demonstrates the dire need for aid and quality interventions in animal welfare to alleviate the burden on and migrate our most vulnerable towards improved access to quality veterinary care.”
The SPCA said the award would create awareness abroad and draw attention to the animal welfare-related challenges it was facing.
“We hope this awareness will draw foreign investment and funding from international markets to continue our work on the front line in the fight against animal cruelty,” added Everts.
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