Animal Welfare South Africa Project #61912

Sterilise animals in Cape Town & prevent suffering

by The Cape of Good Hope SPCA

Project Report | Feb 5, 2026
10,000 ways to stop cruelty

By Joette Emerton | Individual Giving Manager

Little Survivor, Hope

Dear Friend,

As an animal lover, you may already know the answer to this important question: How do we stop cruelty to animals?

Stronger laws and enforcement? More SPCA Inspectors? A pet ownership register? These would all make a difference, but none would have the power to end the stubborn cycle of animal cruelty and neglect. In reality, the solution is simple: prevent animals from being born in the first place ... stop them from being innocently born into an existing pet over-population crisis, bursting shelters, widespread homelessness and unrelenting abuse.

Pet sterilisation (spaying females and neutering males) is the true ‘cure’ for cruelty. That's why we aim to sterilise 10 000 animals this year – a big, bold goal that we can only achieve with the generous support of people like you. There is no better investment in compassionate change.

At a minimum, 10 000 pet sterilisations will mean:

10 000 less adult dogs and cats used as breeding machines – and suffering the poor health and stress that pregnancy, birth and lactation often cause.
Countless animals spared the pain of being abandoned, neglected, starved, drowned, burned, chased, chained, used in dog fighting ... the list is, sadly, endless.
Far fewer puppies and kittens at risk of brutal cruelty – like little kitten survivor, Hope.

Hope’s case is proof of how sterilisation would have directly prevented the brutality that she and her siblings suffered. Hope and her three siblings were being carried around in a box and offered for sale. Nobody wanted them – so they were mercilessly beaten to death.

Seeing those tiny, perfect little bodies bloodied and smashed was one of the most distressing things I’ve ever seen. If Hope’s mother had been spayed, none of it would have happened.

I wish I could tell you that this was a rare case of violence against animals. But abuse is a plague – and like the epidemic it is, only our combined actions can stop it.

When you support this project, you act against cruelty. Not law enforcement, education or engaging with communities can produce a solution that’s as immediate – or lasting.

We cannot allow more animals to fall victim to cruelty when we know how to prevent it. Thank you for your support: we can’t reach 10 000 animals without you!

Yours sincerely,

Joette Emerton

Hope

Hope with Inspector

Getting lots of love in the Animal Hospital

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Oct 10, 2025
Kitten Boom Averted

By Joette Emerton | Individual Giving Manager

Staff hard at work fitting lids to 'cat carriers'

Dear Friend,

A single unspayed cat can lead to 370,000 kittens in just seven years. But we stopped that number in its tracks — sterilising 101 cats in Parkwood and Ottery in just one high impact day of action.

The SPCA’s We Step In outreach campaign targets areas hardest hit by pet overpopulation, and this latest effort is part of a broader, urgent push to tackle the problem head-on. South Africa is in the grip of a pet overpopulation crisis. Shelters are full. Homes are few. Animals are breeding faster than they can be rescued — and it’s preventable.

Timed ahead of South Africa’s peak kitten season (September to February), the mass sterilisation drive aimed to curb the seasonal influx of unwanted litters we generally experience from October every year. Several cats were already on heat when they were admitted for surgery.

Cats can reproduce up to three times a year, with litters ranging from two to nine kittens. The impact of even a handful of unsterilised animals compounds quickly — especially in under-resourced communities where access to veterinary care is a challenge.

“When one pet becomes ten, many families simply can’t cope,” Abraham explains. “They’re forced to surrender or abandon animals they can no longer feed. This is how the cycle of suffering begins. We can’t rescue or adopt our way out of this crisis, sterilisation is the only real solution.”

Community participation was key to the campaign’s success. Cat owners were encouraged to sign up via a digital link circulated on the Parkwood Community Upliftment WhatsApp group, allowing the SPCA team to plan and prepare ahead of time.

Making sure we had enough cat carriers was a challenge but the SPCA team got creative — building custom cat carriers from milk crates, fitted with secure wooden lids. It was a low-cost, high-impact solution that enabled safe, efficient transport of cats to and from their homes and safe holding at our field hospital.

We didn’t stop at sterilisation, because animal welfare is never about a single procedure — it’s about the whole animal, and the people who care for them. That’s why every one of the 101 cats received a full circle of care:

A sterilisation procedure
A 5-in-1 core vaccination
A rabies shot
A bag of dry food and a can of wet food to support post-operative recovery
A Tick and Flea Treatment

At the SPCA, we don’t only step in when animals are neglected or abused. We step in when they are loved too — because love without means shouldn’t mean losing a pet to a preventable disease.

Please continue to support sterilisation as a frontline defence against pet overpopulation. Our sterilisation outreaches are resource dependent and we can only continue with ongoing support for these initiatives from people like you.

Thank you for your support so far!

Kind regards,

Joette Emerton

Sedated patients being prepped for surgery

Veterinarians from the SPCA sterilising cats

Patients sleeping off sedation post surgery

Post surgery cuddles

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Jun 18, 2025
271 Animals Sterilised - A Victory for Animals

By Joette Emerton | Individual Giving Manager

Dear Friend,

In a ground-breaking collaborative effort, six animal welfare organisations united under the banner of “We Step In Together” to tackle the pet overpopulation crisis head-on. In February, in honour of World Spay Day, the Cape of Good Hope SPCA and five other organisations came together to sterilise an incredible 171 animals—92 dogs and 79 cats—in a single day in Lavender Hill.

This powerful initiative demonstrates the impact of unified action in the fight against neglect, abandonment, and cruelty. Your valued support is a part of this.

Lavender Hill is a community that, despite their many challenges, is rich in compassion and care for their animals. Of the 171 animals seen, only one dog was found to be underweight and showing early signs of mange. It was an honour to support them by providing a service to their pets that will not only prevent the birth of unwanted litters but also help them live happier, healthier lives.

Every pet that was sterilised also received:

Vaccination against dreaded diseases
Deworming
Tick and flea treatment
A collar and identification tag
A food pack (dry food and tinned wet food) to support recovery

Building on the success of the first Lavender Hill sterilisation drive, the second unified campaign in March saw 100 more animals sterilised - proving once again that when we step in together, more animals get help, more lives are saved and more suffering is prevented.

We extend our gratitude and thanks to everyone for aligning with the SPCA as advocates for sterilisation, one of the few proactive tools we have in the fight against animal neglect and cruelty.

By Stepping In Together, we can create real, lasting change. Every sterilised pet brings us one step closer to a world where no animal is unwanted, neglected, or abandoned.

Thank you for your support!

Kind regards,

Joette Emerton

Links:

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