TV vet returns from mission to South Africa with plea for help to other UK vets

Emma Milne, a practising vet and star of Vets in Practice and numerous other shows, spent two weeks with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) at IFAW-supported animal clinics – CLAW in Soweto and Mdzananda, on the outskirts of Cape Town.
 
Both projects offer much-needed medical care to the pets of people living in some of South Africa’s poorest communities, as well as caring for and neutering homeless dogs and cats and rescuing animals from cruelty.
 
The Mdzananda clinic has just one vet to serve the Khayelitsha township, which has more than one million inhabitants and no other veterinary services, while CLAW’s mobile clinics often operate without a full-time vet.
 
Emma said: “Working at these township clinics and meeting the people and their pets has been life-changing for me and I am eager to get back to Soweto again and do what I can to help. Meanwhile, I hope that through words and pictures I can convey what I saw and experienced and get help for people who love and need their pets just as much as we do.
 
“I would urge other vets in the UK to consider spending some time helping out there; I can guarantee it will be an incredibly fulfilling experience they will never forget!”
 
Robbie Marsland, Director of IFAW UK, said: “IFAW is extremely grateful to Emma for her efforts to highlight these important projects. The value of pets to people in impoverished communities should not be underestimated. We hope people are inspired by Emma’s experiences to support this vital work.”
 
Any qualified UK vets interested in volunteering at the projects are asked to email their name and contact telephone number to info-uk@ifaw.org or for more information visit www.ifaw.org.

During her visit Emma also spent time at CARE (Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education) in Phalaborwa, which rescues, rehabilitates and releases orphaned and injured baboons. 
 
Notes for Editors:

Emma Milne is best known in the UK for her appearances in the highly successful BBC1 programme Vets in Practice, appearing in all 11 series. She has also been featured in many other TV shows and has written countless articles on animal welfare issues for a variety of publications. Emma’s first book, The Truth About Cats And Dogs, was published in 2007 and highlights the realities of veterinary work as well as the inherent and increasing health problems with many breeds of pedigree dogs and cats. During her time touring the townships Emma offered advice to pet owners and treated animals suffering from a variety of diseases and conditions, including poisoning and malnutrition. 

As part of its mission to offer veterinary care to pets from the huge Khayelitsha township, Mdzananda has a clinic which operates from three disused shipping containers, as well as running regular mobile clinics.
 
A familiar face at Mdzananda is 15-year-old Thobane Dolophini, known as ‘Dr Bean’, from Khayelitsha, who spends every spare afternoon after school, and every Saturday, helping at the clinic, where he dreams of one day working as a vet. A special fund has been set up to assist Dr Bean with his education, so that he can hopefully fulfil his ambition.
 
CLAW (Community Linked Animal Welfare), was set up by Cora Bailey who has spent the past 15 years working tirelessly to help animals and people in some of the poorest slums in Soweto. She began her mission offering basic veterinary care to dogs and cats whose owners were too poor to treat them, as well as rescuing the animals she found abandoned on rubbish dumps.
 
However, her work rapidly expanded as she also came across sick and abandoned humans, many of whom are Aids victims thrown into the street to die, or orphaned and starving children, many of whom are HIV positive. The work of Cora and her small team has now expanded to offer after-school clubs to vulnerable children, a 24-hour emergency call-out line for sick animals, a gardening training scheme to enable poor adults to grow their own food and a neutering scheme for dogs and cats.
 
One of her recent successes has been the “Saturday Project”, which sees local children caught stealing cars or committing other offences referred to Cora’s animal shelter on Saturday mornings to help out as an alternative to jail. Spending time with the animals has had an incredibly positive effect on many of the youngsters.
 
CARE was founded as a baboon rehabilitation centre after it was found that baboons were regularly shot or poisoned by farmers wanting to protect their crops. The aim of the organisation is to care for rescued baboons and release them into the wild when they are recovered.
 
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which funds and supports the work of CLAW, Mdzananda and CARE, works around the world to improve the lives of animals and people. With more than two million supporters and offices in 16 countries, IFAW works to protect animals from cruelty and commercial exploitation. For more information visit www.ifaw.org

For media-related inquiries, contact:

For further information, photographs, broadcast footage or to arrange interviews with Emma Milne or IFAW please contact Clare Sterling at IFAW UK on +44 (0) 20 7587 6708, mobile +44 (0) 7917 507717, or email csterling@ifaw.org