The Mdzananada Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha says that it has seen the effect of COVID-19 on township pets and pet owners.

"Many people have lost their jobs. Many have no income. But despite this, people are still caring for their animals and they need our services more than ever," says Marcelle du Plessis, fundraising and communications manager at the clinic.

The NPO animal clinic serves up to 1 000 community pets per month through:
  • consultations
  • hospitalisation
  • general and orthopaedic surgeries
  • continuous sterilisations
  • mobile clinics
  • an animal ambulance, and
  • abandoned pet adoptions.
The organisation has a strong focus on community empowerment and education to ensure for responsible pet ownership into the future. It works in the heart of the community and says that it prides itself on gaining the community's respect and trust so that it can work together on improving the lives for pets in the township.

However, the clinic has also suffered under the coronavirus impact. "We lost significant funding during hard lockdown, around R200 000 every three weeks. Apart from that we had an armed robbery, were burgled and our drivers were held up," says du Plessis.

Even though the organisation received generous donations at the start of lockdown, helping them to continue serving the pets of the community during at that time, its main concern is the long-term effect.

"The really scary part is the impact it's had on our individual donors. People have started cancelling their monthly debit orders and many bounced due to difficult times. This income is our organisation's blood flow," says du Plessis.

"Apart from individuals cancelling debit orders, we are also concerned that corporates who are hard hit by the pandemic may not be able to donate into the future. The pandemic effects are going to last for at least two years," concludes Susan Wishart, general manager at the clinic.

The campaign consists of a series of videos showing the animal clinic's work, as well as testimonials from current Paw Members. The first video launched on Saturday, 10 October and will be followed by a new video every two weeks.



The clinic is appealing to members of the public to sign up as a Paw Member. This can be done on the clinic's website or by contacting info@mdzananda.co.za.

For more information, visit www.mdzananda.co.za. You can also follow the Mdzananda Animal Clinic on Facebook or on Instagram.