Animal-Kind International
Apr 8
Funded with a grant from AKI, every week for 6 months, our grantee, Tanzania Small Animal Veterinary Organization (TASAVO), trapped, spayed/neutered, vaccinated, de-wormed, and returned cats and dogs either to their families or back to the communities where they live. And always, this was combined with animal welfare education (e.g., encouraging acceptance of the cats and dogs who live among the community members, explaining the importance of spay/neuter and vaccinations).
During the grant project, TASAVO:
Sterilized 297 cats and dogs
Vaccinated 297 cats and dogs against rabies
De-wormed 297 cats and dogs
Adopted 35 animals to permanent homes
Euthanized 7 animals
Rescued 20 puppies and kittens
Sometimes in one-on-one conversations, sometimes in groups, and sometimes using more formal seminar sessions, TASAVO:
Raised awareness about animal welfare and spay neuter to 200 members of the public
Trained 11 veterinary interns to do sterilizations
Trained 23 veterinary technicians to assist in all aspects of TNVR
Trained 20 local government employees on the welfare-based approach to control stray animals
TASAVO's animal welfare education was far-reaching. For example:
Temeke Livestock Training Agency met with TASAVO to learn about humane measures to control free-roaming dogs on campus;
Volunteers from Morogoro Livestock Training Agency were trained in humane handling and other animal welfare topics prior to assisting TASAVO with their field work;
Communities in Ubungo Municipal (Msigani ward), Kinondoni Municipal (Kunduchi ward), and Kawe ward (Reefs Apartments) attended awareness raising meetings;
A two week awareness campaign and TNVR planning exercise was held with the District Veterinary Officer, Mr. Archie Mntambo, from Ubungo Municipal Council.
Dr. Thomas Mayani told us that before the grant project, TASAVO's TNVR efforts had been unfocused, but "this project gave us a chance to hold a long term and organized TNVR campaign requiring us to change and improve our record keeping and this is helping us to understand the magnitude of the work we are doing and partners to collaborate with. We were dealing with so many people with different mindsets before the project and during these six months we have changed mindsets of every vet involved and built a like-minded team that works together toward TASAVO goals."
Along the way, TASAVO faced several challenges. For example,
When returning unowned cats to communities, people didn't want the cats, they wanted them taken away and never returned. TASAVO had to spend considerable time educating the public and restaurant owners during trapping and when returning the animals. And they always tried to find homes for the sterilized cats so they didn't have to go back to the community, but that was often not possible.
Another challenge was when TASAVO was informed of inhumane killings of dogs and cats in a location where they had planned to conduct TNVR. TASAVO had to quickly prioritize that location and conduct intensive animal welfare education there as well.
The rainy season presented a challenge when trapping animals since most were hiding, trying to stay out of the rain. But TASAVO persisted.
TASAVO hoped to establish an animal welfare club at the University of Dar es Salaam, Ubungo Municipal campus to help TASAVO raise awareness among the local community about animal welfare. TASAVO sent the administration the proposed constitution, but the administration has been slow to reply. However, now they are working with a professor of humanities who is an animal lover and is speaking on behalf of TASAVO. (She has been feeding 17 homeless cats at the campus at her own cost and TASAVO sterilized and vaccinated them).
TASAVO is an all-volunteer organization comprised mainly of veterinarians and vet techs. They welcome anyone in the veterinary and related professions and and they especially focus on bringing in young vets, recently out of university training, into the fold.
While our grant to TASAVO supported spay/neuter, vaccination, de-worming, and education, one of the indirect achievements was that "the project gave young inexperienced vets a chance to be better surgeons in their future careers and ensure they will be motivated by animal welfare," Dr Mayani told us. "It also "taught us to be consistent and hardworking to make a project successful and to overcome the challenges and fulfill the mission. The project taught us that TNVR can be tedious but it is one of the most important things we can do for our animal friends."
We are grateful to all who volunteered over the course of the grant project to help make this such a success:
More pictures from TASAVO's grant project: