The NSPCA’s special wish for 2017
National Council of SPCAs appeals to the community for help.
The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) issued a media statement containing their special wish for 2017 on Tuesday, 10 January.
A heartfelt appeal is being made to car hire companies or corporates willing and able to sponsor or assist them with subsidised car hire.
“This may sound like an unusual request from an animal welfare organisation. Yet, the reality is that valuable income has to be spent on the hiring of vehicles to enable essential work to be undertaken,” said Christine Kuch, the NSPCA public relations officer.
She said that one example can be found in the NSPCA’s Animal Ethics Unit’s key focus area, which is to replace the use of animals for research, teaching and training wherever possible, as well as to reduce the number of animals used for research where feasible and to refine the experimental methods and procedures to ensure the most humane treatment possible for animals in research environments.
This involves serving on numerous Animal Ethics Committees. During 2016, NSPCA staff served on 43 such Ethics Committees, and a total of 164 committee meetings were attended, in addition to carrying out inspections at facilities where research on animals is undertaken. It is necessary to travel all over from the NSPCA’s Gauteng base to carry out these duties, which is where the appeal for donated or sponsored car hire comes in.
“The usual requirement would be for a single day or at most for two consecutive days,” explained Christine. “With careful planning and budgeting of time and costing, air travel can be more economical than driving long distances. But then we have the factor of needing transport at the destination.”
Emergency situations also arise when, for the sake of speed, staff go by air to assist animals and need a vehicle to take them to the scene at the destination.
Christine added that reducing or eliminating these costs would make a huge difference. The NSPCA is happy to provide detailed motivation and explanations to anyone willing to consider this request. Finance for this purpose is a genuine need.
The NSPCA has approached various car hire companies without success to date, but maybe there is someone out there who is willing and able to make their wish for 2017 come true.
Anyone wishing to assist may contact Christine on 011 907 3590, via email pr@nspca.co.za, their website www.nspca.co.za or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nspca.
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