VN April 2022

Vetnuus | April 2022 12 An initiative of the SOUTH AFRICAN VETERINARY ASSOCIATION Non-profit Company: 1998/016654/08 Non-profit Organisation: 000-234 NPO Public Benefit Organisation: 130001321 They may be seemingly insignificant dots on the map, but small towns in South Africa are crying out for animal welfare assistance; with the commitment of veterinarians, it can be provided. Toni Younghusband reports on a CVC initiative in the Great Karoo region. A mere 50km from Graaff Reinet lies the Karoo village of Nieu Bethesda, a sought-after tourist destination for its iconic Owl House. The acclaimed playwright Athol Fugard put the town on the map with his play “Road to Mecca”, drawing inspiration from the creative life of school teacher Helen Martins, who transformed her modest Karoo dwelling here with glass, cement and a singular vision. Tourism is the town’s lifeblood, but there is not enough of it, especially post-Covid, to sustain the more than 1600 residents, and unemployment rates are projected at more than 75%, with the majority of residents of Nieu Bethesda’s Pienaarsig township relying on government grants to get by. Poverty is strikingly evident in the tumbledown houses and skinny arms and legs of the elderly and the children. Yet, it is a township with more dogs than any other she has visited in her more than 22 years in animal welfare, says veterinary nurse Sr Hilda Mills. The dogs are emaciated, dusty skin stretched tightly over prominent hip bones and ribs. “We need the dogs for hunting,” says 20-something Wanie Scholtz. “There are no jobs here; we can’t buy meat, so we use the dogs to findmeat, or there will be no food.” Everywhere the story is the same. Charlton Mirtner has three dogs; they’re the skinniest Sr Mills has seen in a long time. “I’m unemployed. I need the dogs to hunt,” he says but admits that he cannot afford dog pellets and feeds his hounds scraps from the table and mielie pap. The town’s only animal welfare volunteer is supportedbyGraaff Reinet’s Camdeboo Sterilisation Initiative (CSI), but with no resident veterinarians in Nieu Bethesda, Victoria Nance relies on people like Sr Mills and the Somerset West-based EberVet Petcare Group to try to get the dog numbers under control. EberVet recently took a team of ten (10), including Sr Mills, to Pienaarsig to sterilise pets, educate pet owners, and train seven (7) residents in primary health care. The idea is that these new trainees provide much-needed support for animal welfare, identifying animals that need veterinary assistance, signing animals up for sterilisation, applying parasite control, offering nutrition advice and teaching pet owners primary wound care. Victoria chose trainees with a deep compassion for animals and willingness to help the pet owners in their neighbourhood 24/7. A three-hour walk through Pienaarsig followed the morning’s theoretical training at the local community hall, with Sr Mills and veterinarian Dr Hilldidge Beer engaging with pet owners. Focussing on identified diseases like mange and biliary the pair taught the trainees how to recognise medical conditions and injuries. Soon pet owners with pets in tow surrounded the EberVet team in the street, asking for help with a scalding, a bite, a listless puppy, a cancerous growth. The list was endless. The team used the opportunity to discuss and encourage pet sterilisation. Although there was some resistance initially, once the advantages had been explained, pet owners queued to sign up for the two-day spay clinic at the community hall the next day. Hendriette Hector was happy to have Optel neutered to stop him fighting and wandering the streets; Ebrahim Kasper didn’t want more mouths to feed, Karel Jacobs was tired of the male dogs who pursued his Doeke every time she went on heat. Trainee Marno Koopman, who has five dogs of his own, said the biggest issue in his community was a lack of education. With the trainees’ help, pet owners could learn to take better care of their dogs, and he would be there to assist them. With the trainees’ assistance at the post-op table, Dr Beer and her teamof nursing assistants sterilised 84 dogs and cats in two days. Wounded paws were seen to, biliary and mange treated, rabies vaccinations given and essential nutritional information shared with owners. “With what I have learned, I can help people keep their dogs healthy. I can recognise mange and biliary, clean wounds, and teach owners about ticks and fleas. To be a vet has been my dream; now I am one step closer,” said trainee and star pupil Michaela Jacobs. CVC News I CVC Nuus Nieu Bethesda CVC initiative Toni Younghusband