For the fourth time in a row since the beginning of the lockdown, the Animal Welfare Society in Philippi has been broken into.
Staff members from the society believe the same person is repeatedly breaking into the premises and gaining access by breaking down the vibracrete wall.
“We are located at the epicentre of an area regrettably plagued by crime and a myriad of social ills resulting in us having to hemorrhage an almost disproportionate amount of money in security measures to protect our hard-earned assets from being stolen or vandalised. We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the safety and security of our staff, property and animals entrusted to our care and recently invested handsomely in further security upgrades including the installation of additional HD CCTV cameras and burying rolls of razor wire the entire length of our boundary walls to prevent criminals from digging under the wall,” says Alan Perrins from AWS.
The Society has been operating throughout the lockdown to assist animals in need during emergencies.
“Despite staying open throughout the lockdown our Hospital takings are down 76%, shop income has declined by 21% and adoptions have had to grind to a temporary halt. There has been absolutely no respite for any of our team who are seeing an average of 30 emergency cases every day. Almost all of these pet owners are indigent and unable to make even the smallest of co-contributions and the demand for our services is likely to rise drastically over the coming months,” says Perrins.
Equipment worth R100 000 was stolen, including computers and hard drives that stored the history of patients. The AWS has now been forced to hire more security guards to protect their premises.
“The value of the collateral damage of this recent spate of break-ins has been significant and hurt us both financially and operationally as we needed to replace all stolen items, reinstate the integrity of our damaged boundary wall and limp along without any x ray capability until very recently. During the 1st incident the thief broke into our staff quarters and stole their uniforms, footwear and several personal possessions totalling several Thousand Rand. He also ripped the spare wheel off our general purpose trailer. During the 2nd incident the thief vandalised and stole the copper fittings from all of our external Hospital Air conditioning Units and mains fire hydrant. During the 3rd and 4th incidents the thief managed to gain access to the Main Hospital causing extensive damage to the x-ray room, adjoining triage area and making off with our digital x-ray unit including 2 expensive computers,” adds Perrins.
The Animal Welfare Society of South Africa offers a full range of veterinary services to the underprivileged and disadvantaged communities of Cape Town.
From its base in Philippi, the Society handles about 4000 animals per month.
If you would like to help AWS, you can do so by helping replace the below equipment or donating to their cause via the information below:
– Two replacement computers with a terabyte capacity;
– Air conditioning Units repaired; and
– Assistance with funding to pay the salaries of their two resident security guards.
Anyone wanting to contribute is kindly requested to give Allan Perrins a call on 078 631 5126 or email [email protected]
Picture: Facebook