The Mdzananda Animal Clinic, in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, has made an impassioned plea to the public to assist the clinic in raising enough funds to construct two additional buildings that would enable the clinic to treat more pets.
The clinic is a permanent veterinary council registered animal clinic in Khayelitsha that aims to educate residents about ways and skills to better take care of their animals. Clinic manager, Rosalind Stone, told Vukani that they treat about 1 000 sick pets a month during the winter season and the number is growing. She added that when the animals arrive at the clinic most of the time they suffer from hypothermia, a condition she described as having an abnormally low and dangerous low body temperature.
Ms Stone said when the animal arrives at the clinic in most cases they are sick, hurt or afraid because they had been abused.
She said the clinic has very limited space and as a result, they need to build three buildings that would allow the clinic to take in more animals. She said the animals they treat with hypothermia don’t always recover.
“We gave them warm food and gave them vigorous body rubbing to help create blood flow and warmth. Some did not make it, but many survived. “Some of the cages that we have are small and do not allow the animals to exercise and they are not exposed to Vitamin D from the sun. The buildings that we are going to built are going to expose them to the sun and would allow them to have a spacious area to move around and stretch their legs,” she said.
Ms Stone said they have started with the construction of the first building, thanks to two generous donors who donated R65 000 towards the construction of the building. But, she said, they need more funding to start the construction of the other two buildings.
She said initially they wanted the buildings to have 24 cages inside that would allow the animals to have enough space to roam around. She said they are also making a desperate call to the public to support the clinic by donating things such as blankets and washing powder because they are entirely dependent on funding from the donors. And at times the money they receive from donors does not cover everything. Ms Stone urged the community to build warm kennels for their pets, particularly at this time of the year. She said they had discovered that many pets sleep outside on cold surfaces without blankets or kennels. She said they frequently host consultation sessions with pet owners to offer advice to them. “Generally township residents are taking good care of their animals. Some do want to build kennels but due to financial constraints they are not able to do so. “We have also discovered that pet owners dont take their dogs for regular checks or to be vaccinated and we urge them to do so.
“We are here to serve the needs of their animals and they should grab this opportunity with both hands,” she said. Ms Stone also said when people are walking their dogs they need to put them on a leash as they receive many cases where dogs are hit by cars because they were not leashed. She said most of the yards were not enclosed and that this places dogs at risk of being run over by cars.For more information about the Mdzananda Animal Clinic, call 082 357 7613 or visit their website at www.mdzananda.co.za