With World Rabies Day on 28 September, how can our State Veterinary Services operate without essential equipment and compassion for every single animal that “cross their desks”?
This is the story of “Nameless”, a dog whose life ended on the streets of Ficksburg.
On Sunday morning, the NSPCA received a complaint about a feral dog that had been biting people. She had no obvious home or owners. Nameless was a border collie cross and a young mother of five tiny puppies. She had been roaming the streets for some time, showing signs of severe fear of people, which led to defensive attacks on anyone who approached her. Witnesses noticed that she wasn’t feeding her puppies, putting them in danger of starvation.
Suspecting she might have rabies, we urgently contacted the Free State State Veterinary Services. Unfortunately, the State Veterinarian neglected to help, citing the lack of dart guns and other essential tools. When no help from the State Veterinarian arrived, a good Samaritan tried to assist Nameless and her puppies. In her fear and vulnerability, Nameless attacked and she was bitten. Despite this, the Samaritan managed to secure three of the puppies, but sadly, two were already dead.
Later, NameleSs carried two of her remaining puppies to the front gate of a nearby property and rested there. When the property owner and her daughter tried to leave, Nameless attacked them. By then, Inspectors from Bloemfontein SPCA had rushed to the scene to rescue Nameless and her puppies. They managed to secure the puppies, but unfortunately, Nameless escaped into a drainpipe.
Late that Monday afternoon, with no other solutions in sight, we dispatched our Consulting Veterinarian and one of our Inspectors on a four-hour journey to Ficksburg. They found an extremely frightened dog, who aggressively defended herself against anyone who came near. Despite initial hopes to home Nameless to a loving, caring owner, it was decided that it is in her best interests to humanely euthanise her.
Due to the fear for public health and the welfare of the deteriorated puppies, the remaining puppies were humanely euthanised. We have requested the State Veterinarian to collect Nameless’ body to assess for rabies. The Samaritan who attempted to assist Nameless and her puppies is receiving Rabies Post-exposure Prophylaxis as a precaution.
Sadly, this is just one story of thousands of dogs across South Africa, left to their own devices and persecuted simply for existing.
This story not only highlights the neglectful manner in which our State Veterinarians often operate, but emphasises that upcoming World Rabies Day cannot “just” be about social media posts and a few vaccinations – a sustained and well-resourced effort by our government is necessary to ensure that no animal is left to suffer.
We offer our sincere and heartfelt thanks to the good Samaritan who tried to help Nameless and her puppies, as well as Bloemfontein SPCA for their assistance.
Rest in peace, special girl.
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