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Richard from Lilongwe SPCA reported to us about how they used AKI's funds:
Owing to the economic strain on the country, there have been several power outages. And as a result, we have had a lot of problems with water for the animals. During the water crises we had to prioritise which kennels to clean and beddings went unwashed. The little water that we were acquiring was from the Lingadzi river, whose cleanliness is highly doubted. All the containers including sauce pans were ferried to the river to fetch some water. This was greatly cumbersome and time consuming. Thankfully the AKI support came to our rescue just in the nick of time and we managed to erect a water tower. The tank has a capacity of 2600 litres, so we can take a week without water! While water shortages have been frequent, they never last longer than three days, this means that the water problem has been sorted. Now the dogs and cats will have ready and clean water to drink and we have water for the maintenance of good hygiene. I believe that with the ready presence of water the animals will greatly benefit from this installation. Thanks to the kind support of AKI, now the animals have enough water! |
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| See pictures from Karen's 2011 trip (not AKI funded!) to Malawi and the delivery of supplies and money from AKI donors to the LSPCA click here |
| See pictures from a June 2011 LSPCA community vet clinic click here |
| About Lilongwe Society for the Protection & Care of Animals |
| The LSPCA is the first and only registered animal welfare organization in Malawi. It is situated and operates in Lilongwe City, but the organization has been involved in rescuing animals as far away as 200 kilometers. |
| The LSPCA’s mission is: |
- To improve the welfare of domestic and farm animals in Malawi;
- To support the enforcement of legislation by local authorities and to help improve existing legislation; and
- To provide veterinary care and support for local communities and for all rescue cases.
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| The LSPCA’s activities are: |
| Hold mobile outreach clinics that offer free vaccinations and basic veterinary support and care to rural communities of Lilongwe.
Conduct dog and cat spaying programs within Lilongwe to control the stray dog and cat populations within the City and surrounding villages.
Provide extensive vaccination programs within the City, through mobile outreach clinics to protect domestic animals from diseases such as canine distemper and to protect the human population from zoonotic diseases such as rabies.
Provide advice to communities about basic domestic and farm animal care.
Operate a CyberKennel --a network of foster parents for all rescued animals which can then be re-homed to new owners, and provide veterinary care for all animals that enter the cyberkennel program. The cyberkennel includes a quarantine facility where rescues are held for 30 days before being passed on to foster homes or adopted to new owners.
Provide veterinary care for stray/street dogs and kittens abandoned within the City.
Help enforce the laws of Malawi by supporting Government in their attempt to stamp out the illegal selling of dogs and cats on the roadside.
Raise awareness of the activities of the LSPCA, most importantly the foster and adoption programs and the fact that it is illegal to buy, sell, and trade in dogs and cats along roadsides..
Provide a mechanism through which animals inhumanely treated are confiscated and re-homed through the LSPCA.
Assist the security industry to provide suitable care for their guard dogs. |
| Your donations to AKI can help support LSPCA’s activities. click here to donate now. Remember to designate your Paypal AKI donation to the LSPCA, send us a note at Karen@animal-kind.org
Or send a check or money order to POB 300, Jemez Springs, NM 87025 USA with a note designating the LSPCA for your donation. |
| The LSPCA at Work |
| Once a week on a Tuesday, Vet Richard and his team go off to the community villages around Lilongwe to hold spay and vaccination days. Word goes out to the Chiefs the week before and then on clinic day the villagers bring their dogs and cats down to be spayed, vaccinated, or receive whatever veterinary care they need on the day. These villagers have neither access nor the money to take their animals for treatment so LSPCA clinics are their only way of helping their animals. The LSPCA also holds education days in the surrounding schools to teach schoolchildren about good animal welfare. - See photos below, click to enlarge!! |
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| Long term goals of the LSPCA are: |
- Develop a second outreach team to work out of Blantyre, the country’s largest city.
- Advocate for better policies regarding domestic and farm animal welfare at Government level, including those subjected to inhumane transportation and control/slaughter practices.
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Please help AKI to help LSPCA turn these goals into reality! |
| AKI asked Dr. Richard what it’s like to be a dog in Lilongwe, Malawi: |
| Dogs have been implicated in some of the most infamous human rights violations in Malawi! One of the most recent high profile cases involves an expatriate’s dogs that were blamed for attacking house staff. And now, nationwide, dogs are getting a lot of flak for this. For example, many dogs that are perceived to be aggressive have been either euthanized or abandoned. Because of this case, as well as the prevalence of rabies, the lack of a good appreciation of animal welfare, and the large number of strays in Lilongwe, a dog’s situation is extremely precarious. The City Assembly has traditionally controlled stray dogs through shooting, but since the inception of LSPCA they have restrained themselves from carrying out this ineffective approach to control the dog population in the City. |
| AKI asked Dr. Richard what it’s like to be a cat in Lilongwe, Malawi: |
Cats are very neglected in Malawi and seem suspiciously few in Lilongwe! They are often kept to tackle the house rats’ problem. However they are so neglected to the extent that of all the pets that are presented for the annual rabies campaigns, you hardly see any cats brought to the clinics. It is nonetheless clear that they are marketable produce and as a result have been violated greatly through the road side pet business. They have often been killed or diagnosed with spinal fractures from dangling them through the day!
Both cats and dogs are in a safer City with the presence of an active well-supported LSPCA |
| The LSPCA is run by a combination of paid and volunteer staff: |
Project Manager & Vet- Dr. Richard Ssuna (salaried)
Programs Officer - Grace Phiri (salaried)
Education Officer-Joseph Kwanunkhantonde
Community/Chicken Project Officer (salaried)
Driver (salaried)
Adoption Officer-Trustee and Volunteer
1 Treasurer/Officer-Founder Trustee and Volunteer
1 LSPCA Officers-Trustee and volunteer |
| LSPCA trustees are: |
Dr. Joseph Nkhoma:
Joseph is a private veterinarian in Lilongwe and one of the LSCPA Founder Trustee members. He regularly helps at the veterinary clinics.
Bev Trataris: Treasurer
Bev is a founding member of the LSPCA whose support in the day to day activities such as fostering rescued animals in invaluable.
Tracey Dettmer: Secretary and Adoption Officer
Tracey brings immense experience in caring for cats. She manages the cyberkennel and is the Trustee representative on the fundraising committee.
Dr. Gray Matita- Chair
Dr. Matita is President of the Malawi Veterinary Association and a very keen animal welfare activist in Malawi.
Kari Scott: LSCPA Cat Quarantine Officer
Kair is also Chair of the Finance Committee of the Trust.
Wilfred Lipita
Mr Lipita is the Director of the Directorate of Animal Health and Livestock Development (DAHLD).
Dave Nyoonga
Dave is the current Commissioner of Police Central Region of Malawi. Following the addition of the Police Commissioner to the Trust Board, the LSPCA made gigantic strides in ending the illegal peddling of animals on the road and also in improving the inhumane transport of animals within Lilongwe. Mr Nyoonga is a keen animal welfare supporter and his personal involvement in the Malawi Police Services to help end the cruel practices has been invaluable.
Zilanie Gondwe
Zilanie is the Deputy Editor of the Guardian Newspaper. As a member of the media she is critical to LSPCA’s communication strategy and advises on all issues of LSPCA public relations.
Siva Kumar
Mr Kumar is a pharmacist by profession and is a keen animal welfare activist.
Donnamarie O’Connell: Senior Training and Projects Manager for the RSPCA International
She was fundamental to the initiation of the LSPCA and continues to be key to its success.
Lee Stewart
Lee is the ultimate Founder of the LSPCA.
Vitto Mulua
Vitto is the Director of Health and Community Services at the City Assembly. As the LSPCA operates in the City, Vitto’s direction and support is pivotal to the harmonization of LSPCA activities and those of the City Assembly.
Sam Kamvazina
Sam is a Veterinarian by profession with immense experience in government duties. |
