- More than a billion chickens are slaughtered in South Africa annually, which is about 20 million birds per week.
- This was one of the concerns highlighted at the first State of Animal Welfare Address (SOAWA) presented by Four Paws.
- Activists say there is a public demand for more action and a more concerted policy on animal welfare.
Annually, more than a billion chickens are slaughtered in South Africa, which is about 20 million birds per week.
This was one of the concerns highlighted at the first State of Animal Welfare Address (SOAWA) presented by Four Paws at the Homecoming Centre in District Six on Friday 10 May.
Four Paws is a global animal-welfare organisation, for animals under direct human influence, which relieves suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them.
The SOAWA dived into the current situation of animal welfare in SA.
In her address, Fiona Miles, Four Paws’ director, indicated this was a day set aside for drawing attention to the overconsumption of meat products. She said the day marked meat exhaustion day in South Africa.
“Already in the fifth month of the year, South Africa has already exceeded our recommended annual animal-meat intake. This is not in line with scientific planetary health diets and is of major concern to us. South Africa has the highest meat-consumption rate in Africa, the average person in the country consumes between 60 and 70 kg of meat per person annually.”
Miles said there is a public demand for more action and a more concerted policy on animal welfare. “When we show our children pictures and films of wild animals we assume this is how it looks for those animals, and that the wild will always be the wild.
“Big cats are being traded legally and illegally, fuelling an international market for traditional Asian medical products and so-called luxury items. This contributes to the decline in species of the wild in a worldwide biodiversity crisis. As long as there is trade every big cat has a price on their head.”
She said big-cat farming is a “sad reality” in South Africa and a lifetime of exploitation.
“In addition to the cruelty and exploitation suffered by lions and other big cats through trophy hunting and the bone trade, serious welfare concerns persist around the conditions that the cats are kept in.”
Miles added that due to the bone trade, a profit can be made from the animals regardless of their health.
“This year marks three years since the SA government announced its intention to outlaw the captive lion industry, including captive breeding of lions, the keeping of lions in captivity and the commercial use of lions and their derivatives.”
She said as an organisation Four Paws appeals to the government to publish a government implementation plan, including time-bound specific goals to follow up on the cabinet-approved position to end keeping lions captive for commercial purposes and lion facilities and to include all big-cat species in the implementation plan.
Companion animals
According to the State of Homelessness project, a global data initiative four out of 18,6 million cats and dogs in South Africa are homeless. With 3,4 million living on the streets while 750 000 are in shelters.
Miles said: “The state of companion animal welfare for both rural and urban South Africa calls for the national, provincial government and local government to improve the health and welfare of the owned and stray animal population by providing veterinary services, sterilisation, vaccination and education in responsible pet ownership.”
She appealed to the South African government to sign onto COP28 UAE declaration of sustainable agriculture, resilient food system and climate action.
Miles said all political parties in the country should have animal welfare and sentients in their political manifestos.
Narend Singh, a member of the Portfolio Committee for Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), also attended. He said he wished more South Africans would march for animal welfare.
“I think it is imperative that we all get together and spread the word that animals are not just dumb. In Parliament, there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of legislation. There is still this contestation over animal welfare between the departments of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs.
“I think when we go back to Parliament we will continue this fight on your behalf. Without people and organisations like you, it would be a terrible world.”
JP Smith, Mayco member for safety and security, said the City’s Law Enforcement Animal Control Unit deals with dozens of complaints daily. “In the last nine months, we have attended more than 4 234 service requests relating to animals, did 2 600 impoundments, 127 operations, issued 250 compliance notices, 390 fines, opened 37 dockets for abuse and attended to more than 30 dogfighting complaints.”
Smith called on the national government to engage with local government on ways to implement laws to ensure animals’ well-being.
Tony Gerrans, executive director at Humane Society International Africa (HSI) and legal adviser at Cape Animal Welfare Forum (CAWF), said: “It is up to us as the animal-protection sector to lead by example and educate, incentivise and also demand from the government that they partner us as the private sector in a meaningful way to improve the lives for all animals, humans and non-humans alike.”
