Hundreds of animal rights activists, organisations, and carers held a march on the beachfront at the weekend to highlight the lack of sympathy and endorsement for animal rights in the city of Durban.

Behind the mobilisation is Niki Moore, the founder and chairperson of Cats of Durban, which looks after feral cats. She believes the march is to show that animals should enjoy the same rights as humans, as enshrined in the country’s constitution.

“The reason why we are all here today is that we all believe animals are sentient beings. Unfortunately, our laws are based on the 60s, when either animals were seen as nuisances, who needed to be controlled, or possessions that needed to be managed. This march is the beginning of our attempt to change that,” Moore said.

She further said, “To let our government know that animals have the same rights as people, as enshrined in our constitution. There’s this general attitude that if you are in support of animal rights, then people have to be disadvantaged in some way. That’s not the case; you can have animal rights and people’s rights going on at the same time.

“And we have put together a petition, which hopefully will reach the city council, to say that animal rights do not have to be zero sub-game. Both can work, can have a system that works for both. The petition will set amendments, highlighting that animal rights can be self-supporting.

“I have received calls from different parts of the country, saying we need this, we need to raise this everywhere. This is the beginning of a movement, organisations coming together to say things have to change.”

Moore understands that people want to keep animal rights out of politics but the problem, she has realised, is that until there is a political will, nothing ever changes.

“So we need political will. I have asked the DA to support us, because the DA is the only political party that has animal rights in their manifesto. We will ask the DA to look at our proposals, and to comment, and to persuade the City to get the by-laws changed. We hope to start changing the laws in Durban, as it has happened in Cape Town,” added Moore.

DA councillor in Ward 26, Sharmaine Sewshanker, believed not much emphasis is placed on animal rights in KZN. “Especially with festivals and celebrations where animals are exposed to fireworks, there’s no consideration for animals. There is very little that our by-laws contain when it comes to protection of animals.

“With the memorandum that Niki has put together, we hope to hand it over to the City this week, and ultimately put it into a by-law,” Sewshanker said.

She concluded that the march received a lot of positive reception from supporters, and hopes the initiative could grow in leaps and bounds, encouraging other areas to get involved in such awareness campaigns.

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