Boksburg SPCA pleads with residents not to support the exotic pet trade
Take note of this vital news from the Boksburg SPCA:
- Exotic pets
The SPCA is not in favour of exotic animals being kept as pets for the following reasons:
* Owning an exotic pet can incur huge financial costs and is also an enormous responsibility.
* They do not make good companions or pets and many can be carriers of zoonotic diseases, which can be passed onto humans. In monkeys and rodents these diseases include herpes B, monkeypox and rabies, all of which are highly infectious and potentially fatal to humans. Salmonella poisoning can also be contracted from reptiles and amphibians.
* Exotics can be inherently dangerous to their owners and children especially are at risk of being bitten or mauled by exotic animals or asphyxiated by snakes.
* Removing wild animals from their natural habitats can, and does, negatively affect delicate ecosystems which rely on these species to further the life cycle of plants and keep animal populations in check.
* Exotic pet owners, pet shops and facilities that keep these animals encourage people to think that it is acceptable to have these animals as pets and this means that other people, often less well-equipped and knowledgeable, also think it is okay to have an exotic animal as a companion.
* People who are ignorant of these facts will continue to purchase wild or exotic animals until there are none left in the wild.
* The Boksburg SPCA pleads with residents not to support the exotic pet trade which they deem as a vicious cycle with the animals being the only losers.
- Feral cats
The SPCA receives numerous calls from schools, police stations, hospitals, hotels and companies that are experiencing problems with feral cats.
* Feral cats are cats that have been born with little to no human interaction and are very fearful and distrusting of people.
* They can be viewed as problematic because they are prolific breeders and they become sexually mature at as young as four months old. This means that the number of feral cats living in a certain area can double (and even triple) in numbers in a very short period of time.
* Feral cats are also extremely helpful in keeping rodent numbers down and for this reason people will sometimes permit them to remain in areas and even encourage them by feeding them. However, it is not advisable to feed feral cats without first understanding that this will make them healthier and they will breed even more.
* As feral cats breed quickly, it is imperative that a trap or sterilise-and-release programme be set up. To remove the cats is almost impossible and eventually, when this happens, other unsterilised cats will move into the now vacant area and within a very short period of time the company or school will be right back where they started.
* It is far better to take responsibility for the feral cats by starting a feeding programme where cats get used to being fed at a certain time and in a certain place. This makes trapping them much easier and then the SPCA can start catching and sterilising all the healthy cats.
* There is a fee when the SPCA assists with feral cats but their assistance is offered at a reduced cost.
- Adopting a pet
* To adopt a dog at the SPCA costs R900 and to adopt a cat costs R650, which covers sterilisation, first vaccination, deworming, a collar and ID disc and a microchip. Adoption fees are the same for all sizes/breeds of animals.
* If you already have a dog at home you will be asked to bring this animal into the SPCA for a ‘meet and greet’ with the new dog. As this meeting takes place on neutral ground, if the animals show any hostility towards each other then they will most certainly do so when on the ‘home ground’ of the dog you already have.
* The SPCA will carry out a pre-home inspection of your premises to ensure that the property is large enough for the dog being adopted – to check the perimeter is secure, suitable shelter is available, swimming pools are either covered or enclosed, etc.
* Once the property inspection has been carried out, the adoptee must come into the SPCA to complete the adoption forms and pay the adoption fee.
* The animal is then sterilised at the SPCA and the owner collects the animal the next morning.
* The animal must come back after 10 days for the removal of the sterilisation stitches.
