Spay and Neuter Cats and Dogs in Rural Eswatini

Hello again,

This report is on our rural clinic at Nkamanzi held in September.  Rural being the operative word. This clinic was a good 2½ hour drive from Mbabane, with the last 10km being possibly the worst dirt/sand road I have driven on in my 60 odd years of living in Eswatini.

Needless to say, the turnout was fantastic, as the residents have not had veterinary services come to them for years.

We operated on 32 with a further 2 taken to Mbabane for spaying and medically checked a further 158, all the animals were vaccinated for Rabies and other diseases.

The 20 Veterinary assistants arrived full of enthusiasm and were able to put their newly gained knowledge into action.  We are hoping that the next years batch of students will be as willing to participate.

We also had a small group of school ‘science’ students come for a quick visit, in order to show them what happens at a clinic and hopefully to inspire them to look at Veterinary science as their future interest.

We’ve added a photo of a group of dogs sampling our ‘home-made’ dog food. We have been experimenting with a low cost mixture for  people in rural areas to feed their dogs, where commercial foods are rarely available.

Altogether a very satisfying and successful clinic.

From the animals of Eswatini – Siyabonga (thank you) for your continued support.

We wish you all a Healthy and  prosperous 2024.

Group of Vets and Medical Check room staff

This is the usual means of transporting cats in rural areas

Group of school ‘science’ students with a final year student from the Veterinary University in  Pretoria RSA, in the recovery room.

Dogs sampling the ‘dog food’ we mixed ourselves, to improve their health in rural areas.

We are happy to report that we completed a very successful Clinic on Saturday 12th August at the Mangwaneni Primary School on the outskirts of Mbabane.

45 operations were undertaken with a further 6 to be done in the next 2 weeks (as they were likely to present possible problems under the basic clinical facilities we were working under).

We also treated and vaccinated a further 89 in our ‘medical check’ room. We will remove stitches and give them a final ‘once-over’ on the 26th.

The majority of the dogs seen were in a good condition and the cats were also very healthy.

Our local TV reporters paid a visit and took a few shots for the News programmes. We hope that this encourages an awareness of the need to neuter pets and have them vaccinated regularly.

Our next Clinic will be held on 23rd September at Nkamazi Primary School, close to the northern border of Eswatini. At this clinic we will have around 20 Government Veterinary Assistant students helping us, which will assist them in their studies whilst also helping us.

These Clinics would of course not be possible without the voluntary work undertaken by our team of Vets, who give their time willingly.

Our thanks are also extended to the SAWS Committee and the volunteers who put in many hours to make these Clinics possible, from the ‘set-up’ to the ‘breaking-down’, making this a 3 day event for most of them.

Last but not least, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your generous donations towards our Spay and Neuter Program. Your continued support enables us to tackle pet overpopulation and prevent the unnecessary suffering of countless animals.

From the animals of Eswatini – Siyabonga (thank you)