The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) says it is doing all in its power to get a new lease agreed with Enoch Mgijima Municipality for the operations of its Queenstown affiliate.
Jacques Peacock, Public Relations and Legal Liaison Officer of the NSPCA, said the national body had first become aware of the Queenstown lease problems on 20 December last year. They had recommended steps that Queenstown should follow to try to get the problem resolved. These included a recommendation that legal assistance should be obtained.
In a telephonic interview with the Echo, Peacock said there was no intention of abandoning the Queenstown operation. However, the only way to resolve the matter was through negotiations with the Enoch Mgijima Municipality who had the final say on leases of municipal property. NSPCA officials were currently in Komani to do just that.
The following notice was published on the NSPCA Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon:
Peacock said Queenstown SPCA was still operational and its bank account was intact.
The same day, the Echo carried an article on an excellent video produced by former AlgoaFM icon, Daron Mann, that attracted more than 100,000 views. In the video, Mann expressed concern for the animals and called on animal lovers to adopt a pet.
Following a suggestion from one of his Facebook followers, Mann published details of the Queenstown SPCA bank account for those that wished to donate money.
This resulted in a sharp uptick in enquiries about adoption of a pet, and the organisation’s bank account swelling by nearly R60k!
Peacock admitted that the transfer of the animals to King Williamstown and East London did not guarantee that none of the animals would be euthanised. That was unfortunately the practice when it became apparent that there was no interest from the public in adopting a specific animal.
When the Echo contacted Enoch Mgijima Municipality spokesman, Lonwabo Kowa, he objected to the use of the word “evicted” in the video. He pointed out that there was no eviction, it was merely a case that the Queenstown SPCA’s 10-year lease would expire on 31 January 2024 and no new lease agreement had been concluded.
He said it was only right that the municipal asset should be re-evaluated and re-advertised in case better options for the use of the land were available.
In a telephonic call, the Echo asked Kowa whether it would be possible to at least allow a temporary three-month extension to the vacation period to allow for negotiations to take place. He responded saying that he would have someone call back with a response. To date, the Echo has heard nothing further.
- Pictures of animals reproduced from Queenstown SPCA Facebook page. Some may already have been adopted.
- To keep up date with news, please go to our Facebook page and click the like and follow buttons.
