Pet Care Corner: Do not hold onto stray animals
What is always surprising is the number of animals that are brought into the Boksburg SPCA by members of the public, who say such things like: “I would keep her, but my dogs don’t get along with her”, or “I have had him for two months but I can’t keep him any longer”.
This is according to the Boksburg SPCA manager, Maggie Mudd.
“It is vitally important for people who find stray animals to understand that they do not belong to them and that holding onto them actually constitutes theft,” she said.
“It is also important to understand that the owners of these animals may be (or have been) desperately searching for them and worrying about where they may be.”
Maggie shares the following information on stray animals.
What must happen when you find a stray animal?
The Boksburg SPCA is the official pound for all domestic animals and, as such, stray animals must be brought into their kennels or catteries for the stipulated holding pound period of seven days.
This period is to give the original owner the opportunity and time to come into the society to look for their lost pet and to claim the animal from the SPCA.
If the member of public who found the animal is keen to keep the cat or dog that they have found, they can legally do so by placing a reserve on the animal and then adopting it after the pound period is over, if it has not been claimed.
This animal will then be legally adopted by the new owners (for the adoption fee of R800), with all the necessary paperwork to show when it entered the SPCA and when it was legally adopted and, very importantly, the animal will have been sterilised, received a vaccination, have been dewormed and been issued with a collar and ID disc.
So, the next time you may be tempted to keep that lost animal you have found wandering in the streets, or that pitched up at your premises, please remember that there may well be someone who is searching for it – it may even have a micro-chip that would reunite it with its owners.
Also, remember that holding onto something that does not belong to you is against the law and charges of theft can be laid against you by the owners if they find that you have illegally kept their pet.
Please bring all stray cats and dogs into the SPCA.
