Concerned citizens, particularly distraught pet owners whose animals fled during the thunderstorms, have flooded the Animal Welfare Society'(AWS) Inspectorate and Hospital with calls for assistance since Friday.
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Unfortunately, a lot of animals are being miserably abandoned outside in the cold, where they eventually freeze to death, as happened to a kitten that was rescued from Rylands Estate.
Several animals wandered onto busy roads in an attempt to flee and survive the bitter cold, torrential rain, strong winds and thunderclaps. As a result, they were struck by cars and left to suffer and perish in the gutter.
Over the weekend, the inspectorate handled a good number of tragic cases. While on patrol, they came across an injured dog that was immobile in the road. She had suffered a broken spine. She was mercifully euthanised.
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They also hurried to help a cat that was struck by a car. She also needed to be put to sleep due to a broken spine.
A few hundred metres from the hospital’s front gate, a dumped dog tied to a pole was one of the most upsetting cases we dealt with. Even with two broken legs and wounds infested with maggots, he managed to survive the night and the freezing weather. It was necessary to euthanise him humanely as well, despite our best attempts to save him.
The AWS can only hope that all pet owners take every precaution to keep their pets safe and warm as the proverbial flood of calls and stream of animals needing help continues to rage.
‘To compound matters we are the only animal welfare hospital in the entire Cape Metro open on Sundays and Public Holidays! This unfortunate situation that we have had to adapt to since the beginning of 2024 has resulted in a ten-fold increase in our workload and we subsequently urge all pet owners to meet us half way by taking proper care of their pets’ stated AWS SA spokesman Allan Perrins.
To report incidents of animals in distress please call 021 692 2626 during office hours or 082 601 1761 after hours or e mail [email protected]
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Picture: Animal Welfare Society of SA/ Facebook