Push the City to implement mandatory cat & dog sterilisation in Cape Town - only registered breeders to be excluded.
Cape Town’s stray
and neglected cat and dog populations live a miserable existence,
struggling to scavenge enough food, and succumbing to disease, cold and
starvation. They are infected with distemper, parvo virus, feline aids
and leukaemia, which put other animals at risk. They also carry and
spread human diseases costing the City millions of Rands to treat, and
should rabies reach Cape Town they would carry it too, making it very
difficult to control deadly rabies epidemics. Well-managed cities
elsewhere are able to issue breeding permits and regulate domestic
animal numbers – indeed, the presence of countless strays is indicative
of ‘third world’ conditions.
Why this is important
A
huge unregulated domestic animal population exists in the Cape Town
metropole – at least a quarter of a million dogs, according to the City
of Cape Town’s own estimates. Tens of thousands of cats are also
consistently abandoned and left to breed.
Fortunately, you can make a difference. Let our voices be heard!
Fortunately, you can make a difference. Let our voices be heard!
A
mandatory sterilisation law for Cape Town dog and cat owners is crucial
in enabling animal welfare groups to solve the problems associated with
the animal over population epidemic - without it animal welfare is
all but impossible to implement and considering how this issue impacts
significantly on quality of life, tourism, health and business
development, a mandatory sterilisation by-law can truly make Cape Town a
“better place to live” and a “better place to visit”. Please sign our petition!
Currently, enormous
resources are wasted as the various animal welfare organisations
struggle to sterilize and regulate the huge numbers of dogs and cats in
the informal settlements while shelters are also inundated with
thousands of unwanted pets from the leafy suburbs.
The clauses in the
existing by-law simply don’t go far enough, especially as there are
currently only nine law enforcement officers for the entire City of Cape
Town who are able to enforce them. Mandatory sterilization would
provide animal welfare organisations with the tools they need to tackle
the domestic animal overpopulation, a problem exacerbated by thousands
of unregulated backyard breeders. Mandatory sterilization would
also assist in the battle against the scourge of dog-fighting and other
unspeakable acts of cruelty.
Cities around the
world impose strict sterilisation by-laws, and even other South African
municipalities, such as Kannaland and Swellendam of the Western Cape
have mandatory sterilisation by-laws. Why not Cape Town, where the
problem is most severe?
It’s time the City of Cape Town responded to the problem with new legislation for mandatory dog and cat sterilisation. Let our voices be heard!
Supported by SA.MAST & the Brigitte Bardot Foundation
www.samast.co.za / samast@samast.co.z
To be delivered to Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille