Taking a Stand for Animals: TEARS Cape Town
28/05/19 13:22 Filed in: Charity
Taking a Stand For Animals: TEARS Cape Town
This week is D-day for the September Dog's Life charity competition. On Friday 28 September 2018 we will reveal which activity is most popular for dogs in the swing of summer as judged by their owners. One of the associated charity's will be walking away with a hamper of necessary goodies for their organisation so voting is crucial!
This week we profile TEARS Animal Rescue, Cape Town, which is the third in our line-up of charities. This fantastic organisation has a long and illustrious history of rescuing and rehabilitating abandoned, abused and neglected animals. It's a pro-quality-of-life organisation and it not only re-homes unwanted fur babies but provides veterinary care to the local underprivileged community.
Started by three fearless animal welfare warrior women - Emma Geary-Cooke, Joan Bown and Marilyn Hoole - the organisation took roots when the three visited Masiphumelele armed with a bucket of tick dip and a packet of deworming tablets. The state of the local dog population was so dire that the three women decided to found an organisation to come to the assistance of animals in underprivileged communities on a much larger scale.
Tragically, Emma Geary-Cooke was killed in a car accident. However, this left Joan Bown and Marilyn Hoole even more determined to fulfil her dream. In 1999, the Emma Animal Rescue Society (now TEARS) which was established in Geary-Cooke's memory was formed.
From the small society they were then, they eventually moved to Sunnydale and now have a 50-person full-time staff compliment and care for over 300 animals.
TEARS Feral Cat TNR Project
Feral cats lead miserable lives. Often called "community cats" because they are feral due to being abandoned, kicked out or lost, these cats are plagued by diseases and malnutrition. They soon multiply and their kittens are then slaves to the same lives of suffering as their parents.
TEARS is putting a strong stop to this cycle in the most humane way. They started the Feral Cat project adopting the Trap-Neuter-Return practice which aims to target the feral cat population and uses a group of volunteers to, well trap the cats, sterilise, deworm, vaccinate for rabies, de-tick and de-flea and ear-tip them, and then release them again. It manages to treat around 300 cats a month in the Cape Town area!
If one considers that a female cat as young as 6 months can have a litter of kittens up to three times a year, and that her body will go through high levels of stress and suffering while nursing, then this initiative is phenomenally necessary and needs to keep going! It prevents not only pain and suffering on behalf of the mother, but it ensures that countless cats are not born into a fairly miserable existence.
If you live around Cape Town and are interested in sponsoring the project or volunteering for the Feral Cat Project then now is the time to contact TEARS.
TEARS Community Welfare Veterinary Hospital
TEARS has a history they can be proud of assisting those in need to get quality veterinary care for their animals. Households with an income of lower than R12,0000 per month (total income) can access sterilisation services at a welfare rate, and those households with a combined income of less than R9000 may access veterinary services at a welfare rate.
TEARS Mobile Veterinary Units
TEARS takes animal care to the streets in their two mobile clinic vans, operated by TEARS veterinary clinic staff. The vans, which run on an pre-arranged schedule, serve the low income areas of Cape Town. They offer primary healthcare services as well as sterilisations. Sterilisations and animals needing further care are treated at the TEARS on-site veterinary clinic.
If you want this wonderful charity to benefit from our competition then ensure you vote in the Dog's Life September Charity Competition! Entries close tonight at midnight so don't delay!