Hope for Homeless Animals

“These By-Laws are not Cast in Stone”, was the opening comment by Dr Bismilla, Executive Director of Health for Joburg Metro after I finished my presentation.

I would like to thank Dr Bismilla and his Team for investing their valuable time so that we could present our objections to the Dog and Cat By-Laws enacted recently. Those present not only gave the issue their undivided attention but also asked questions that indicated their genuine interest and concern. Special thanks to MMC Development Planning and Urban Management, Roslynn Greeff for not only arranging the meeting, but supporting this initiative as well as the Hopeful Homeless.

In referring to the presentation, Dr Bismilla said that he found it rational, and could find nothing in it with which he could disagree. He also said that he had some concerns, not only with regard to the By-Laws, but in relation to the process of participation and whether it was satisfactory. Dr Bismilla is himself a “big animal lover” and I have to say that I found his manner gentle and his understanding insightful.

He suggested that we should meet again on this issue and include a wider spectrum of people, both from Government and the Animal Welfare community, so that there was a more representative collaboration. In addition, he saw a need to create a committee/group that would help Government achieve more representative and sustainable solutions in the area of animal welfare in the future. I undertook to organise who should be at that that meeting, since Dr Bismilla stated his intention to move this along rather than delay it.

To that end, I need you to do the following: Send me 5 names that you think should be present, with their email addresses, by email to derek@hopeful.ws

I will collate the information, approach the people concerned, and make all the arrangements. While on the one hand the decision as to who attends that meeting should be democratic, numbers will be limited and we must be pragmatic. I do see a need for each sector to have a spokesperson, and here are my personal suggestions:

1. Legal – Prof David Bilchitz
2. Cat Welfare – Tersia Baasden
3. Specialist Breed Rescue – Malcolm Gaw, Pug Rescue
4. Specialist Breed Rescue – Mandy Merber, Husky Rescue
5. Education and Animal Health – Heather Müller, Animals in Distress
6. Education and Sterilisation – Cora Bailey, CLAW
7. General Dog Rescue – Brenda Michau, CHARM
8. Initiatives – Paula Spangoletti, NO Animals in Pet Shops
9. General Dog Rescue – Patti Barron-Lowe, FORA
10. Feral Cats –  June Bradbury, Cat Trapping & Sterilisation Network

Ideally the person should be diplomatic, a strong communicator, and experienced. While the above are those I would invite, this is not my process, it is yours, and I will only be involved in the next phase to bed it down. I will also, if necessary, create polls on the Hopeful forum to facilitate arriving at decisions where there may be conflict.

Please note: It would be counterproductive to send in a petition at this time. Let’s give Government an opportunity to correct the situation before making demands. A petition now would be superfluous anyway, since we are dealing directly with the Director to whom the departments report that enacted the By-Laws.

We’ve made a start, let’s get this right the first time. It will also give animal welfare SA the opportunity to engage in a more cohesive, integrated manner, which I believe is an important step in the right direction at this juncture.

A Light in their Darkness,

Derek

http://hopeful.ws

Link to documents related to this issue:  http://hopeful.ws/arf/viewthread.php?tid=14

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Tags: animal care, animal law, animal welfare, education

This entry was posted by Derek on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 3:10 am and is filed under Animal legislation, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.