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The NSPCA has issued an urgent appeal to all farmers, farming communities and everyone with farm animals to plan ahead and prevent suffering to any animal.
Spokesperson, Andries Venter, says winter is approaching and with it come the seasonal weather patterns.
He says farmers should be prepared and ensure that there's adequate protection for their animals.
Every year, the National Council of SPCAs receives pleas for emergency assistance when food stores and grazing have been depleted or there are natural occurrences including fires or floods which have affected the ability to obtain fodder. These are known and relatively predictable weather cycles and so preparation can be undertaken.
"Don't leave it too late. Take responsibility now," is the message from Senior Inspector Andries Venter who is the Manager of the NSPCA's Farm Annual Protection Unit. His advice includes liaising with local Disaster Management teams to ensure that there is communication and an awareness of the planning and procedure in the event of a dire emergency. Working together this way can often solve problems and it certainly lessens the impact.
Proactive steps can be taken, including monitoring the weather in advance, ensuring that stock can be reduced in exchanged for financial or feed provision and the sharing of feed or storage of feed. All these measures will help to prevent the loss of livestock, which in turn would prevent animals from suffering unnecessarily.
It may be possible to obtain feed from other parts of the country but the transport costs have to be taken into consideration and may be more expensive than the feed itself.
The NSPCA covers an estimated 70% of the area of South Africa which is predominantly rural and where there are no individual SPCAs, no other welfare services and often no veterinarians in the immediate area. This is a huge undertaking yet annually, we receive calls for assistance often once a situation has deteriorated and animals are suffering or dying.
Channels of communication with the NSPCA are open for welfare advice to be given. Our Farm Animal Protection Unit can be reached on 011-907-3590.
