The Cape of Good Hope Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has been dealt a heavy blow after its vet shop in Plumstead was burgled during load shedding.
SPCA spokesperson, Belinda Abraham said the store, situated in Gabriel Road was ransacked during Friday night (July 15) or during the early hours of Saturday morning, July 15, when its camera and alarm systems were down due to load shedding in the area.
Opportunistic criminals have been taking advantage of rolling blackouts to perpetrate their crimes.
Cape of Good Hope SPCA CEO Moyo Ndukwana said the vet shops are vital income generating commercial entities and the proceeds go directly back to the important work the organisation does with animals.
“We are so disappointed in this display of a complete lack of moral consciousness on behalf of the perpetrators who chose to steal from an organisation whose services are vital to the community.
“The organisation not only loses out on the income that would have been generated via shop sales today, but it also has to deal with; the costs of repairing the damage incurred to the shop structure and equipment, the loss of cash takings and products, and we will have to install a five-kilowatt inverter to prevent a recurrence of the same,” Ndukwana said.
Ndukwana said with Stage 6 load shedding bringing up to four hours of rolling blackouts, its alarm backup batteries are not able to recover sufficiently to keep the alarm system active.
The SPCA is calling on anyone who could donate or offer a discount for an inverter.
“At a time when the SPCA faces significant challenges in terms of an increased demand in services that are already stretching our resources to the maximum, we simply cannot afford to incur the full cost of the inverter we need to keep our security systems running during load shedding.
“If anyone is able to assist with either donating or offering a significant discount on the supply of a five-kilowatt inverter, we would be eternally grateful,” Ndukwana said.
Abraham said the need for an inverter goes beyond safeguarding assets for the vet shop.
“Vet shop operations are our commitment to self-sustainability. The more money we generate commercially, the lighter the burden of compassion will be on the animal lovers who we rely on. An inverter will not just help us keep our security systems operational, it will support our efforts to ensure the Cape of Good Hope SPCA’s doors never close to the public or any animal who needs our help,” Abraham said.
If you would like to assist the Cape of Good Hope SPCA reach its goal in obtaining an inverter, the organisation can be contacted via email at comms@spca-ct.co.za.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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