Unless the Port Alfred SPCA receives substantial financial support from the community, it will have to close its doors in six months. That was the shocking reality revealed by the organisation’s administrator Forbes Coutts recently, as local service club Rotary confirmed a R12 000 lifeline.
During a meeting of the Rotary Club of Port Alfred at the Royal Marina on Tuesday 27 September, President Petro Horner highlighted the valuable work of the Port Alfred SPCA.
“We have great pleasure in making a donation towards the excellent work carried out by our local SPCA,” Horner said. “We have paid into your account this morning (Tuesday 27 September) R12000 for the good work that you are doing for the community. We thank you for what you are doing.”
Thanking Rotary on behalf of the SPCA, administrator Forbes Coutts said, “This means a lot to us. It really does.”
Coutts explained that the SPCA is a non-profit organisation belonging to the community. It is affiliated to the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, also known as the National Council of SPCAs.
“The mother body is there to guide us when it comes to legal matters and to lay down the rules that every SPCA will follow,” Coutts said.
“However, it is not a mother body when it comes to being able to go to them to say, ‘We are faced with financial difficulties, please can we have a loan?’ That does not exist,” he said.
Coutts said every SPCA in South Africa had to stand on its own when it came to financial matters and the SPCAs were not allowed to seek financial assistance from each other.
“The SPCA does not belong to the NSPCA and it does not belong to the committee. The people who work at the SPCA belong to the community.
“But if the community does not support the SPCA, it will have to close its doors,” he said.
The Port Alfred SPCA covers 2000 square kilometres that include the Nanaga and Hamburg areas. They are responsible not only for dogs and cats, but for all animals in those areas.
“We have got this huge area with thousands of animals and very little financial support,” Coutts said. It is a massive undertaking and does take a lot of money to do something like that properly. Financially we probably have about six months left. That is the honest truth.”
Under Rotary business, Horner presented retired Rotarians David and Delene Hawkins with honorary membership in appreciation for their long service. The duo joined the club in 2004 and have been very active in the club since then, serving terms as presidents and being involved in many of its activities. Dave has 18 years’ service and Delene 17.
Rotary Port Alfred member Vuyo Williams chose words from attorney and writer Michelle Obama to introduce the club’s donation.
“You may not always have a comfortable life and you may not always be able to solve all the world’s problems at once, but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have.”
Williams said these words by the former US FIrst Lady summed up what Rotary is all about.
