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"TEARS" - The Emma Animal Rescue Society Province: Western Cape
Marilyn Hoole
What specific projects, campaigns or aspects of your organisation will you promote at the 2006 Giving Exchange?
Since moving to Lekkerwater Road, Sunnydale, four years ago, TEARS has experienced phenomenal growth at a rate never anticipated. Our success can be attributed to sheer hard work, determination to succeed and to the wonderful support we receive from so many quarters. Our driving force and need for existence can be found in the impoverished communities of the Deep South (Southern Peninsula) which include Masiphumelele, Ocean View, Mountain View and Red Hill.
The Giving Exchange will be a wonderful opportunity for us to create an awareness of the important work we do for these communities, as well as highlighting the many aspects of running a welfare organisation.
Our work for the disadvantaged communities includes:
Providing free primary health care to the animals (vaccinating, deworming and dipping) by way of our mobile clinics which are active daily in these areas
At of premises we have a clinic/sterilisation facility. The focus of our work is on sterilisation in order to reduce the hordes of unwanted animals being born into a life of misery and despair
Our clinic also treats hundreds of animals on a monthly basis for conditions and ailments such as biliary, wounds, gastro-intestinal disturbances, mange and other skin problems, motor vehicle accidents, fractures, soft tissue injuries, eye and ear complaints. Abuse and neglect cases are also dealt with on a daily basis
We are the only facility in the South Peninsula available for animals from disadvantaged communities seven days a week, and we do not charge for our services if pet owners cannot afford to pay
Humane education forms part of our activities in the disadvantaged communities. How rewarding it is speaking to the school children who respond so positively to our visits
Managing our Animal Rescue Shelter:
Our premises is a continuous hive of activity, where we provide shelter to approximately 270 rescued dogs, cats, puppies and kittens. Most of these are unwanted, abandoned, abused and neglected animals from the impoverished communities
In caring for these animals, we are able to create employment for 12 disadvantaged people, and employ a total of 17 staff
Volunteers form an important part in the running of our shelter and we cannot function without them
Our main project for 2006 is to purchase the property we are renting, thereby consolidating our position and bringing peace of mind and security to us all.
All these projects and aspects of our organisation will be highlighted and promoted by way of photo-story boards, brochures, newsletters and a PC PowerPoint presentation.
How will your organisation fit and help promote the theme 'giving is not just about money' at the 2006 Giving Exchange?
While on-going financial support is essential for any non-profit organisation to survive, there are so many other ways in which benefactors can contribute. Perhaps the most important way is the giving of their time. At TEARS, volunteers form an integral part in the efficient running of our shelter. We cannot manage without them! There are so many aspects to volunteering.
Some people feel that they do not want to become directly involved with the animals, their help is needed:
In the office (answering phones, capturing data, dealing with visitors to TEARS)
Working in our Bargain Shops
Collecting donated items and food
Fundraising (placing collection tins in shops, organising and functions)
Doing home visits - This is a very important part of our adoption procedure as we need to ensure that the adopted animal is going to a loving and secure environment
Helping maintain the property (gardening, carpentry and general repairs)
For those wanting to work with the animals, there are so many opportunities, such as:
Assisting in the kennels or cattery, cleaning and feeding the many rescued animals, and spending quality time with them
Showing the animals to prospective owners
Responding to the many calls we receive to rescue animals in distress
Walking the dogs (we have teams of dog-walkers who exercise and train the dogs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays)
Helping in our extremely busy animal clinic - Here volunteers can be trained to assist in preparing animals for operations and helping treat injured or sick animals, other duties include feeding and cleaning hospitalised animals and cages
Accompanying our Animal Welfare Assistant in the townships, assisting with treating and providing primary health care, handing out food parcels, providing human education regarding the ethical treatment of pets, and identifying animals needing hospitalisation or sterilisation
Fostering convalescing, injured, old animals or those needing special care and bottle-feeding
Our Bargain Shops provide a considerable portion of our monthly income. This income is derived from the sale of donated items. For those who are unable to donate financially, donations of saleable items are always welcome.
The saying "there is more happiness in giving than in receiving" is so true, but at TEARS you will be rewarded for volunteering your time - the unconditional love and gratitude of the animals will bring you much joy and fulfilment.
Define the Wishlists that your organisation will be promoting at the Giving Exchange.
To enable us to operate an efficient shelter, we still need the following items:
Veterinary equipment
Medical supplies and recovery cages for our animal clinic
Wendy-houses
Shipping containers
Grass sods
Novilon flooring
Trailer (for transporting equipment or animals)
Photocopier
Paving slabs
Vibracrete walling
Carpeting
Ceramic tiles
Cupboards
Filing cabinets
Industrial washing machine
Electronic projector and or DVD player (for presentations)
Pet Accessories (leads, collars, bowls, beds, toys, blankets and bedding)
Dog and cat food
Wooden kennels
Roof Sheeting
Wire fencing
Tools
Colour Printer for our Office
Building materials for upgrading our kennels
Econo-Heaters
Animal exhibition cages
Define the volunteer requests that your organisation will be promoting at the Giving Exchange.
Volunteers form such an important part in the efficient running of our organisation. We require the services of people who are kind, compassionate and understanding, who have a love for animals. For those who wish to become directly involved with rescuing and rehabilitating animals, working in the townships or in our hospital, a strong resolve is required, as we often have to deal with heart-breaking cases of neglect and abuse.
Define your Do It Day proposal.
TEARS requests that either a new software package be developed for our use or that an existing software package be customised to suit our needs.
Everyday TEARS, like other animal shelters in South Africa and the world over, faces unique data capturing and storage problems. A computerised software package is essential to keep track of a complex system of criteria relating to rescued animals as well as the medical status (sterilisation, vaccination and deworming) of the animals owned by residents of the informal settlements which are being managed by the TEARS/IFAW/CLAW initiative. Software also does away with volumes of paperwork. The management of a Lost and Found pets information system is also a huge problem.
It is also essential to be able to produce accurate statistics of costs (expenditure and public donations/incoming funds) as foundations which fund animal welfare activities as well as the public are entitled to, and also demand, to know these facts. Funding can often not be obtained without producing these statistics for example the computer software must be able to calculate the number of animals admitted, how many were sterilised, and what costs are involved over time.
Extensive research by TEARS into the availability of software packages for animal shelters revealed that they are either exorbitantly priced and therefore out of reach of TEARS and most shelters’ budget and also too complex for shelter staff and volunteers who are generally untrained in computer work and therefore find it very difficult to manage complicated software.
A quote from free software Animal Shelter Manager (Developer - R. Rawson-Tetley) explains the problem well: “Animal Shelter Manager (ASM) was born out of an ideal that management software for shelters should be free. Four years ago, my local shelter asked if I could help them - they were drowning in administration and they could not find a good computer package to help them. A number of US-specific packages existed, but they were expensive and those that weren't were extremely poor. So I started designing and coding, implementing in a computer programme what they needed. I put up the programme on the internet to let other shelters try it, and to my surprise more shelters started to use this program and tell me what they wanted.
Then people contacted me from the US, Australia and Canada. Animal Shelter Manager (ASM) then grew to accommodate the additional needs of those countries. Animal Shelter Manager (ASM) is an industrial strength piece of software that thousands of shelters rely on to operate their organisations every day. It utilises other free software, such as the award-winning My SQL database engine for managing information and it is extremely feature rich and capable of managing almost all aspects of a shelter environment.
Free software packages are often far superior to their commercial counterparts for the simple fact that the people who build free software have no other incentive than the desire to do it and care very much about what they are doing. Developers of commercial software do it purely for money and are often under tight deadlines, producing mediocre software that lacks the care and attention to detail of free packages. Now we get to today, and what started out as a little programme is now a complete management system, built from the ideas and needs of shelters all over the world”.
