The Animal Anti-Cruelty League (AACL) has taken the newly appointed operator of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal pound to court with allegations of neglect including puppies going hungry and lactating dogs being left with no blankets in filthy surroundings.
In the Gqeberha high court on Wednesday, a settlement agreement was made an order of court.
The order states that the municipality, through Busy Bees Service Providers, will carry out certain functions in respect of the animals housed at the Kariega pound.
The AACL had taken Busy Bees, the municipality, its acting city manager and acting executive director of public health to court after a series of disturbing discoveries allegedly made at the premises.
It sought to urgently interdict Busy Bees from continuing to operate the pound.
It further asked that all animals at the pound be surrendered to the Uitenhage SPCA or the AACL.
The municipality was asked to cover the costs of the transfer of the animals and to further cover the fees for the collecting, housing, veterinary care, euthanasia and disposal of carcasses where necessary.
The AACL said once the issue of urgency was determined, Busy Bees should only be permitted to resume operations after an appointed animal welfare organisation had carried out an inspection to determine compliance.
Initially opposing the court action, acting city manager Tabiso Mfeya said the AACL had no legal standing to bring the application.
Busy Bees did not oppose the matter.
Mfeya said the allegations that the actions of Busy Bees and the municipality had resulted in multiple animal rights violations and cruelty were simply untrue.
The matter was initially set down for argument on Tuesday.
After being postponed to Wednesday, the court heard that the parties had agreed to settle.
In terms of the agreement, the municipality, through its service provider, must ensure:
- The animals at the pound receive water at least twice daily and be fed a nutritious diet appropriate to age, condition and species;
- The kennels are cleaned and disinfected twice a day;
- The cattery has adequate litter boxes, emptied regularly; and
- Bedding is provided.
In addition, the municipality will ensure properly trained personnel are available to assist Busy Bees, particularly in relation to treatment and euthanasia, until the service provider is in a position to employ someone permanently.
“[Busy Bees] and/or the [municipality] shall remain liable for the costs of contracted veterinary care,” the order states.
“For purposes of conducting regular inspections, the [AACL] will give reasonable notice to Busy Bees and the [municipality] of such inspection during office hours.”
In January, Busy Bees under director Stanley Adam was appointed to operate the pound for six months following a supply chain management process.
They effectively took over from the Uitenhage SPCA which had operated from the premises for more than 50 years.
In an affidavit before court, AACL inspector Beverley Rademeyer alleged there were serious concerns around the procurement process.
She said it was common knowledge that the service level agreement between the SPCA and the municipality expired on October 27.
The municipality published the invitation to bid for the new tender on December 1, with a closing date of December 31.
“The timing of the publication of the tender is both unusual and concerning.
“The tender was advertised during the festive period and allowed an exceptionally truncated timeframe for bids.
“In effect, prospective bidders were afforded approximately six business days to prepare and submit proposals.”
Rademeyer claimed Busy Bees had failed to comply with the minimum tender requirements to operate an animal pound and had contravened the Animal Protection Act.
She raised serious welfare concerns, alleging the animals were not being fed properly or provided with enough water and claiming many were in pain and discomfort.
She said on January 30, the AACL, Animal Welfare Society, Save-a-Pet and SPCA Uitenhage had a meeting with Busy Bees.
Concerns raised included:
- A lack of experience in managing a pound;
- A lack of knowledge about contagious diseases and proper isolation of infected animals;
- A lack of animal handling equipment and resources;
- No veterinarian or para-veterinary personnel on site; and
- No proper record keeping.
“Unfortunately, [Busy Bees] did not provide any solutions.”
She claimed Adam was “very evasive”.
That same day, a national SPCA inspector asked to inspect the pound’s kennels and animals and was purportedly turned down.
“The inspector was suspicious and proceeded to obtain a warrant from the court.
“She then returned to the pound.”
Rademeyer said the inspector had issued Busy Bees with a warning after finding numerous contraventions of the Animal Protection Act.
Some animals were seized.
The NSPCA reportedly addressed this with the municipality.
“On February 14, I received a complaint about a blind dog at the pound, which was in distress in its strange environment.
“I went to investigate.
“Because the dog was surrendered and not deemed re-homeable, proper procedure would have been to euthanise it immediately and humanely.
“It should never have been placed in a kennel for a prolonged period, causing distress.”
Rademeyer alleged she had also observed six-week-old puppies that were starving as they were unable to reach the food in a tall container.
She said she had a video of this.
“Additionally, there was no bedding in some of the kennels, leaving dogs to sleep on cold cement.
“I was appalled by the kennels, which were filled with faeces and urine and had not been cleaned for days.”
Rademeyer said she was further alarmed while visiting an Algoa Park vet on March 5, when Adam and two staff members arrived.
“I was disgusted when I saw the manner in which the dogs and cats were transported,” she said.
“[Busy Bees] had no transportation crates, apart from one cat carrier.
“Four medium-sized cross-breed dogs were restrained by the neck to the inside of the bakkie’s canopy.
“The ropes/leashes were so short and tight they had to stand all the way from Kariega.”
Having obtained a warrant on March 11 to further inspect the pound, Rademeyer said she could not find any record-keeping or identification of impounded animals.
She alleged there were also no qualified personnel on site to assess, treat or euthanise animals, and that the pound was not managed or accessible outside business hours.
In one kennel they found a dog with a chewed plastic bowl.
Plastic pieces were visible in the faeces in the kennel.
Another lactating dog had no bedding.
At the cattery, Rademeyer claimed there were no biosecurity measures like hand sanitiser.
Mfeya said in response that the AACL had withheld information from court.
The municipality had previously contracted the SPCA to operate the municipal pound.
“Following the expiry of the SLA, the SPCA advised that it would cease operation,” Mfeya said.
“This created an immediate service delivery vacuum, particularly in relation to the impounding of stray and dangerous animals, and surrendered animals from the public.
“[But] the SPCA has remained [on the] premises unlawfully.”
He claimed it further appeared that Rademeyer had since January sought to establish a misleading interaction with Adam to obtain information against him.
“The [AACL] and the SPCA’s continued presence at the pound has materially interfered with the municipality’s ability to exercise control over its own property and to implement its service delivery mandate,” he said.
“Following the cessation of services by the SPCA and the resulting public health risks, the municipality initiated an informal procurement process in terms of the provisions of its supply chain management policy for the acquisition of services within the applicable threshold of R750,000.
“This process was initiated by an urgent need to restore services relating to the impounding of animals, particularly where the municipality was receiving numerous complaints from the public and had no functional access to its own pound.
“Accordingly, the informal tender process was initiated.
“The SPCA was specifically invited to participate in the process.
“The SPCA attended the clarification meeting but failed to submit a tender.
“Only [Busy Bees] submitted a valid tender and was accordingly appointed.
“The AACL now seeks to effectively insert itself or the SPCA as the service provider and to compel the municipality to pay for their services.
“This would be unlawful as it constitutes a direct circumvention of the municipal procurement framework.”
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