HELP ALLEVIATE MISERY FOR ANIMALS IN CAPE TOWN

GLOBALGIVING REPORT – OCTOBER 2023

HELP ALLEVIATE MISERY FOR ANIMALS IN CAPE TOWN

Greetings Dear Friends and Supporters on the GlobalGiving Platform

In our June Report, we expressed our concern for the residents and animals in the low-income communities we serve, due to the harsh, freezing conditions at the onset of winter.  It has indeed been one of the coldest and wettest winters in many decades, and there has been much suffering, with heavy, ongoing rainfall compounding the misery.  So many residents in the greater Vrygrond area live in informal dwellings, and the winters are particularly dire for them and their pets. Through our Feed Hungry Pets Campaign, we have endeavoured to provide food for hundreds of community pets, via our mobile clinics that visit the areas daily.

In spite of the challenges that the cold, rainy weather has caused, we have not let up on the services we provide to the vulnerable communities of Vrygrond and surrounding settlements.  Our partnership with AfriPaw Animal Welfare continues to be a blessing to the animals, as we hold monthly pet clinics in Vrygrond, where animals are treated by our vet and animal health technicians.  Those needing further treatment and/or sterilisation, are transported to our registered clinic and veterinary hospital via our mobile clinic vans.  Over and above this monthly clinic, the TEARS Mobile Clinic visits Vrygrond and surrounding settlements daily, to provide primary healthcare services and transports injured animals or those needing to be sterilised to and from our veterinary hospital. Thanks to our supporters, the TEARS Mobile Clinic team is able to educate communities on disease prevention, and basic animal care and encourage kindness and respect when dealing with all living creatures.

To coincide with World Animal Day last week, Tears Animal Rescue will be undertaking a ground-breaking 6-month fundraising and community vaccination campaign to protect 3 000 at-risk dogs and puppies against two lethal canine viral infections, Canine Distemper Virus (Distemper) and Canine Parvo Virus (Parvo) and decrease the risk of its spreading in the “Deep South” communities, including Vrygrond.

The TEARS Mobile Clinics aim to vaccinate 500 community pets per month, between October 2023 and March 2024, at a cost to TEARS of R360 000.00, using a newly launched revolutionary vaccine from MSD Animal Health.  Through this ambitious campaign, we will double the monthly number of pets we vaccinate and hope to record a substantial decline in infection and mortality rates.  The Distemper and Parvoviruses are two of the most infectious diseases in dogs and remain one of the biggest challenges for companion animal welfare organisations working in overcrowded and low-income communities where the number of homeless and unvaccinated animals makes the spread of the disease all the more difficult to contain.

While the cost to TEARS is substantial, we have a duty of care to support community health by providing the most effective preventative measures to combat the spread of deadly viruses to pets in the communities we serve.  We are 100% reliant on donor funding, rebates, and sponsorships from our healthcare partners to provide sustainable companion animal healthcare solutions.

(See the attached Newsletter providing details of our Vaccination Campaign).

We express our profound thanks to you, our GlobalGiving donors, for supporting us, through your generous contributions, to help companion animals in the low-income communities of Vrygrond that we serve, giving them the chance to enjoy a healthy and happy life.

With sincere appreciation and heartfelt thanks for caring.

Warm regards

MARILYN HOOLE

PROJECT LEADER

TEARS ANIMAL RESCUE DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER

13.10.23

• NEWSLETTER RE TEARS' NEW VACCINATION CAMPAIGN (PDF)