Cape Town’s Beauty Hides the Suffering of Dogs and Cats - TEARS

One scarcely sees the sprawl of Masiphumelele, a largely informal resettlement township; or the Ocean View township; and pockets of informal settlements hidden in the narrow valleys of Red Hill are simply invisible.

This is where The Emma Animal Rescue Society (TEARS), a project of IFAW’s Community Led Animal Welfare programme, provides primary health care services to the companion animals and pets of the local communities.

Saving pets in harm's way

In 1997, Marilyn Hoole began to provide veterinary support to Masiphumelele, after being invited by a resident to try and help relieve the suffering of neglected, sick and starving animals.

At the time, Masiphumelele was considered to be dangerous and Marilyn’s visits were considered ill advised, but as her first tentative visits drew awareness of the desperate need for help for the pets living there, volunteer assistance grew.

In the absence of the provision of services by bigger animal welfare groups, it was decided to start a grassroots project and so The Emma Animal Rescue Society (TEARS), named in memory of an early volunteer, was founded.

Managing pet populations across multiple settlements

As TEARS’ exploration of the settlements of the greater peninsula have extended, the organisation’s support now includes Ocean View, Mountain View and five shanty settlements.

The communities are largely impoverished but are also beset by a variety of social challenges such as drug and alcohol abuse and gangsterism, which frequently manifest into deliberate cruelty to animals such as the use of dogs and cats in gang initiation ceremonies.

IFAW’s support of TEARS allows it to focus on reducing pet populations by sterilisation, and to provide basic services such as dipping to prevent parasites, and deworming entirely free of charge.

In addition, because Masiphumelele and Ocean View straddle the popular peninsula route, incidences of dogs being run down by traffic are many and require surgery which is provided by sympathetic local veterinarians at low cost.

TEARS’ close access to its client base, has meant it is often required to take custody of unwanted or abandoned cats and dogs, and the organisation has a state of the art cattery and kennels from where it successfully homes pets.