NSPCA weighs in on the surge of pit bulls being surrendered

To date, the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) has confirmed it has not been informed of pit bull attacks in the Alberton area recently.

The NSPCA also confirmed that SPCAs around South Africa are continuing to accept the surrender of unwanted pit bulls into their care.

According to Keshvi Nair of NSPCA, there have also been several false reports that the SPCA is going door-to-door and forcibly removing people’s pit bulls.

She said this is not true and that SPCAs have been proactively working in areas, however, animals are not forcibly removed unless there are welfare concerns.

“There are several reasons for the surge in pit bulls being surrendered, one of which is the fact that there has been a great amount of media attention on pit bulls specifically. For the longest time, the NSPCA has reiterated that power-breed animals should only be owned by people with the relevant experience and knowledge of the breed they are dealing with, failing which tragedy is very likely to occur,” she explained.

Sensation on pit bulls

“With the recent sensation around pit bulls, more and more people have started to realise that if they are not looking after the animal properly, or if they are afraid of their own animals or if they have an animal that they cannot control, that the responsible thing to do to keep their family safe, the community safe and the animal safe, is to surrender the animal to the SPCA,” said Nair.

Nair said they have also noted that pit bulls appear to have become public enemy number one, “and many people have decided to surrender their pit bulls to the SPCA.

“Not because they don’t care for the dog, but because it was the only way the animal would be kept safe from angry communities. The SPCA will never turn away any animal that is brought to us. Slow-kill shelters are often praised for not euthanising animals, however, when these slow-kill shelters are filled, animals and people are turned away because the shelter has reached its capacity,” she said.

According to Nair, this results in animals being dumped, abandoned, or killed in inhumane manners. She reiterated that the SPCA does not turn any animal away.

However, she said operating an SPCA in this manner does come at a cost, and that there is far more to running an SPCA than just feeding dogs and cats in the kennels.

“Our foremost priority is preventing animal cruelty, which comes at an additional cost. With the issue at hand, influential political parties and other important stakeholders have publicly stated that animals should simply be left at the SPCA, forgetting that there are several other role-players involved in this matter,” she said.

She reiterated that the SPCA will never turn any animal away and that however, it is time for the ‘other role-players’ in this matter to come to the party as well.

“It cannot be expected that the SPCA must solve this issue on its own. The NSPCA reiterates that it is extremely irresponsible for an owner who no longer wants their dog to simply give the dog to a friend, neighbour or even a stranger. Doing this only perpetuates the issue at hand,” explained Nair.

If there is an unwanted animal, she said the most responsible thing to do would be to surrender the animal to a local SPCA or another animal welfare organisation.