Stray animal crisis in Bay

The roaming animals have been the cause of several motor vehicle accidents and traffic jams – even endangering the lives of motorists.

A report to the public health portfolio committee, which met earlier this week, states staff from the pest control division have had to be roped in to deal with any complaints about stray animals.

The pest control division has only eight staff members.

Executive director Andile Tolom reported to the committee that the stray animals were problematic and the cause of road accidents and damage to property.

“The unit that should deal with stray animals within the public health directorate has no staff members due to the imposed moratorium on recruitment and budget constraints,” Tolom wrote.

“The positions of the animal control sub-unit were thus never filled and as [a] contingency measure, the pest control staff members have to perform dual roles – that of plague surveillance and pest control, and at the same time, that of control of stray animals. This situation reduces the effectiveness of all the services and puts a lot of strain on the employees.”

This often resulted in staff having to work after hours and at weekends to respond to calls, over and above their normal duties.

Tolom wrote that impounded animals were kept in a municipal pound in Uitenhage.

“Subsistence farmers have on a number of occasions asked the public health directorate for suitable land to which to take their animals,” Tolom wrote.

“The public health directorate is unfortunately not a custodian of land matters or economic development matters.”

He said there was no farming land available in the Bay, although there were commonages available for small-scale and subsistence farming.

Tolom said he had submitted a list of critical vacancies to the corporate services department, which he hoped would be included in the list to be approved by the council.