HEALTH
In the impoverished communities, animal health is inextricably tied to
human health. Especially in farming areas like the Little Karoo, the care
of companion animals impinges on livestock which in turn impinges on the
quality of human food.
With
local municipalities either unaware or unconcerned about public
health implications, many fail to enforce their own by-laws
designed to control the conditions under which animals are kept,
bred, cared for or disposed of. KAPS workers also frequently
encounter lack of co-operation. Thus many diseases thrive which
are transmissible between species.
* In Kannaland municipality, when the veterinarian visits the
town of Ladismith a couple of times a month and performs operations
including euthanasia, the carcases of euthanased animals used
to be left in garbage bags on the street. Summer temperatures
can reach 40ºC.
|
 |
These
people are poor, but their dogs are clean thanks to KAPS |
|
* Kannaland, along with many other local authorities, provides municipal
land where residents can keep a few pigs, chickens, goats, etc. The
land is essentially barren and has no shelter. In 2003 KAPS forced the
municipality to reconnect the water supply which it had cut off months
previously. Until KAPS became involved, the majority of the animals
were emaciated, parasite-ridden and suffering from disease and injury.
They are kept, of course, for one purpose: human consumption.
* In Swellendam municipality KAPS was recently refused permission to
use any community premises for a mass sterilisation clinic. The veterinarian,
who had travelled 4½ hours from Cape Town, eventually performed
34 operations in the kitchen of a 2-room house. Recovering animals were
laid out on the veld on newspaper.
South Africa's State President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, has publicly exhorted
NGOs to step in and assist poor South Africans with vital support services
which the government is unable to provide.
In the Little Karoo, KAPS is the one agency providing free assistance
in the poor communities where animals are concerned. We improve public
health by mass dipping and deworming, we control animal overpopulation
by mass sterilising, and we raise the
health-consciousness of children and adults by mass educating.
Yet lack of municipality co-operation has forced us to refer the problem
as far up as the Minister for Local Government, Mr Marius Fransman.
DISEASES TRANSMISSIBLE TO HUMANS
The following are diseases found in pets and livestock in the rural
areas of the Western Cape. Children are especially at risk.
* Mange, which transmits to humans as scabies.
* Tuberculosis
* Zoonotic dermatoses (an estimated 15%-35% of all human dermatitis
originates from infected animals)
* Worms - especially tapeworm, hookworm, ringworm and whipworm (a study
of a West Coast town found 75% of children aged 6-7 were infested)
* Enteritis
* Leptospirosis (can cause meningitis or pneumonia)
* Toxoplasmosis (affects the foetus of a pregnant woman)
* Rabies
 |
Animals
live in squalid conditions |
|
 |
Filthy
surroundings produce sick dogs |
|
 |
Pigs
roam amid litter and faeces |
|
|
