Sadly 5,184 dogs — about 14 a day — had to be euthanised in Nelson Mandela Bay during 2020.
The statistics only reflect canines impounded by the metro’s dog control unit, combined with the collection of strays and surrendered dogs at the Uitenhage SPCA, which is contracted by the municipality as a service provider for the entire Nelson Mandela Bay area.
The figure does not reveal the number of unwanted canines which end up at other non-profit shelters across the city.
It is understood that “mass burials” are carried out, when the carcasses of frozen animals are piled into a large hole and buried at a disposal site, which is cheaper than cremation.
The dogs are put to sleep by chemical euthanisation..
Cremating the animals can cost up to R20,000 a month but the SPCA’s hands are tied as it relies on the municipality and the public for funding.
Repeated attempts were made to get comment from the municipality on the mass burials, without success.
In December, the municipality vaccinated about 200 dogs in Bluewater Bay after a dog tested positive for rabies.
It is unclear if infectious carcasses are included in graves when mass burials take place.
Environmental chemist Ronelle Friend warned that burying infectious carcasses could pose a serious health risk to humans and animals.
“Disinfection is important during burial.
“If this has not been done effectively during burial, then bacteria, pathogens and chemical contaminants can find different pathways to escape.
“They can enter the groundwater or they can escape through the soil into the air.”
Meanwhile, SA animal welfare organisations and activists encourage the spaying and neutering of puppies from as early as three to six months to prevent unwanted litters and subsequent overpopulation.
But vets are looking to alternatives to mitigate the risks of puppies being able to later reproduce.
In both the local and international veterinary communities there are strong debates on alternatives to sterilisation, specifically for large and giant breed dogs.
Dr Kurt de Cramer, a veterinary surgeon and specialist in the field of animal reproduction, said health concerns associated with gonadectomy (removal of reproductive organs) were strong in large and giant breed dogs, but evidence was weak in small and medium breeds.
He said there was convincing evidence of health concerns regarding gonadectomy, whether early or not, as a result of “disturbing hormonal homeostasis”.
“In some countries of the world, such as Sweden and Norway, sterilisation of dogs is either strongly advised against or illegal unless there is a medical indication to do so.
“More European countries are following this school of thought,” De Cramer said.
He said there was no health benefit in early neutering of a male dog, however, there was a lower incidence of mammary gland cancers among female dogs which were spayed early..
“In my opinion, for large and giant breed dogs, it is most certainly not the best approach. .
“Hysterectomy and vasectomy [for large and giant breeds] meets those requirements in my opinion,” De Cramer said.
He said for small and medium dogs, gonadectomy had very little probability of long-term health concerns.
More than a decade ago, the municipality abolished dog licence tax and the mandatory sterilisation of bitches older than six months.
Uitenhage SPCA chair Deidre Swift said the reason given for the decision was that dog licence tax was only collected from residents in certain areas, which did not include residents in townships and some areas in Despatch and Uitenhage.
“We assume that as a result of this decision, the bylaws relating to mandatory sterilisation fell away as these inspections were conducted when collecting dog tax.
“In our opinion, removing the policing of such important bylaws, has a very bad impact on animal welfare.
“The SPCA mandate is the prevention of cruelty to animals — having hundreds of non-sterilised female dogs leads to huge over-population, which in turn results in increased cruelty.”
To make matters worse in 2020, when the Covid-19 national lockdown kicked, almost all the stray collections and surrenders were collected by the SPCA.
Strays collected by the dog control unit were transferred to the municipal pound and the food and cleaning costs for these dogs were paid for by the metro for the seven-day stray period.
Thereafter, these dogs were transferred to the SPCA’S adoption programme and the SPCA took responsibility for them.
“We do keep senior dogs if they are healthy but a lot of the senior dogs just cannot be homed and they sit in the kennels traumatised,” Swift said.
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The municipal pound has 27 kennels for stray dogs and no kennels for stray cats, while the SPCA has about 90 kennels.
Between January and December 2020, 600 stray dogs were collected by the SPCA, while 5,011 dogs were surrendered.
Of these, 5,184 dogs were put to sleep, while 427 were adopted or claimed.
MMC for health, councillor Lance Grootboom said the dog control unit was not capacitated to cover all the stray dogs in the Bay.
According to the metro’s stats for 2020, 708 stray canines were collected by the dog control unit.
In January, 25 dogs were impounded by the metro.
Swift said their biggest challenge was a lack of space and resources.
According to the Uitenhage SPCA, there are bylaws that stipulate residents are only allowed two dogs and two cats on a residential property.
The South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) said it strongly advised that within a shelter situation, animals were sterilised before adoption to prevent overpopulation and consequent euthanasia.
Nelson Mandela Bay municipality spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said at present there was no bylaw stipulating that bitches needed to be sterilised at six months. .
Ndamase said a dog breeder wishing to keep more than two dogs should obtain a breeder’s licence from an accredited breeder’s organisation, and that the metro may charge an annual fee.
She said environmental health bylaws on the keeping of animals were mainly aimed at reducing the transmission of zoonotic diseases to humans.
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