ANIMAL ANTI CRUELY LEAGUE

Dr Mpho Hlalele is a veterinarian at the Animal Anti Cruelty League and currently the manages both the Epping and Bellville branches. She was born in Lesotho and has been around animal from a young age and being involved in the animal industry was her obvious direction.
The Animal Anti Cruelty League is a national organization and the head offices are in Johannesburg. It started in 1956 and the Cape Town society opened in 1969 under the premises of Dr Mol, who was basically the founder of the Cape Town Society. In the year 1992 the organization moved to the Epping industrial area, where the organization is currently based.

According to the Dr Hlalele, the organization has grown in leaps and bounds from one vet trying to help the community, to a host of vets who helps hundreds of animals every day coming from disadvantaged communities, as well as helping people with no access to private medicine. She says that the work the organization is doing is quite a big job and the necessities are huge but due to the interest in the organization and the work they do, the Bellville Branch opened in the 90’s.
One of the organizations important departments is the inspectorates department, where there are three inspectors who basically acts like the animal police, and they are the ones who respond to complaints. These inspectors then follow up on these complaints and in certain cases confiscate the animals if they feel the need to. People also drop off pets if they feel like they don’t want them anymore or simply can’t afford to look after them.

The Animal Anti Cruelty league is invested in eliminating and preventing animal cruelty and they do this through education. The organization tries to educate pet owners to be responsible and when it comes to sterilizing and vaccinating animals, they want people to understand the needs of animals that need to be catered for. Public support is also very important and the organizations urges the public to report cases of cruelty, as they cannot be everywhere all the time.
AACL’s education programme aims to instill empathy and kindness towards animals and this programme is basically based on the fact that the youth is going to be the caregivers of tomorrow.

The youth is educated on the five freedoms, which is basically every freedom that a dog or cat needs. These freedoms are the essence of the education programme, and through the programme they aim to make sure that the youth understand the freedoms and rights of animals.  The organizations wants to instill in certain communities the joy that an animal can bring. There are often times where the youth sees a dog or a cat as an object living on the street, and the organization tries to change their perspectives.

Some of the basic rights that animals have is the right not to be hungry and thirsty as well as the freedom to access medical care when sick. In the animal industry, there are animal protection by laws which outlines the needs and rights of animals. These by laws is like the animal industries constitution and inspectors can use it to enforce certain rules and when people are unaware of what they are doing, organizations can use it to help them. By having these by laws, it shows people that they need to be accountable for what they are doing and that animals are like human being as they have feeling just like humans do.
One of the AACL’s biggest challenges is funding and they cannot do more than what they are already doing because they charge a subsidized fee to low income communities, meaning that they charge very little for the services that they provide.  Another one of the organizations challenges is that people are not aware that the organization exists, and therefore they are thankful for the platforms available that allows them to chat to people.

The adoption department is a huge department and runs at the Epping and Bellville branch. There are well over 200 dogs and cats looking for homes and these animals have basically been rescued and rehabilitated and are desperately seeking homes. The adoption process is quite easy and individuals who are interested, can have a look at the animals on the website. Once the preferred animal is selected, individuals can go into one of the branches and fill out form. Property inspections are also done and once the property have approved, the animal can then be selected. Primary health clinics are also available at both branches, animals can receive vaccinations. Mobile clinics are also set up to assist individuals who cannot go to the branches. There is also a hospital ward booth at the Epping and Bellville branch and these wards can house up to 100-150 animals. Animals in these wards receive treatment every day.

World Rabies was celebrated last week and according to Dr Hlalele the disease can be prevented by vaccination. Two shots are given to kittens and puppies and they are protected for life, then following with an annual injection.

World Animal Day is celebrated on October 4th and many love this day because it allows people to stop and think about the animals in the community and bringing up the fact that animals need to be cared for. This day is important as it brings about awareness and it allows people who hasn’t done a good deed, to do so.

The youth in the community can get involved with the organization by actually going in to one of the organizations branches and meeting the animals. All the children in the community who owns pets can get together and see whose cat or dog needs a vaccination or needs to be sterilized.

The Animal Anti Cruelty League’s contact details are 021-534-6426 or www.aacl.co.za and select the Cape Town branch.