SPCA celebrates 30th birthday

Date: 08 July 2016 By: Isabel Venter

The Louis Trichardt SPCA turned 30 on Saturday and residents had the opportunity to join in the celebrations.

Apart from the various fun activities, visitors also had the chance to meet the staff and volunteers who work with the SPCA’s animals on a daily basis. Visitors were also allowed to meet the animals at the kennels that are currently up for adoption. “It truly was a birthday to remember, and it would not have been possible if it was not for our amazing community’s support,” said the SPCA’s Alicia Thomas.

One of the highlights of the party was the few (unlucky) individuals who had to be bailed out of the kennels jail. The mission was to collect as much bail money as possible, to set them free, and raise some much-needed funds for the SPCA. The “prisoners” were Leigh Bristow (Sumbandila Scholarship Trust), Johan Rootman (BB Mount Fuji), Andel Greyling (Anhetico Properties), Jaco Wepener (Mazda Louis Trichardt) and Igno Viviers (Harcourts). All five of them raised more than the required R3 000 bail amount, with Leigh refusing to leave until she had raised R10 000 bail. “Thank you so much for offering your time and contributing to our birthday’s big success and fundraising for our animals,” said the SPCA.

On Tuesday morning, the funds raised stood at a total of R33 000, with more still to be counted.

Saturday also saw the launch of a very special and new fundraising campaign: Paw it Forward. This project encourages random acts of kindness towards animals.

Following the successful party, the SPCA thanked the following people for all their efforts and hard work to make it extra special:  Laurie Bannatyne (from Talisman for supplying us with toilets at no cost), UniToys (for a discounted rate on the prizes for our games),  Liezl Botha (from Kleuter Kampus for the candy floss), Hugo van Rooyen (from Kiwi Café for the use of their popcorn machine), Palm Motors (cold drinks), Rene Paulsen (doughnuts),  Marja and Stefan Pretorius (rice crispy caramel cones),  and Adri Viviers (for spoiling us with an extra special birthday surprise cake created by Erika Grobler).

A special thank you went out to Die Vrieskas for the meaty treats they supplied for the jailbirds and Stefni and Vicky for the launch of the Paw it Forward Campaign, as well as all the extra special volunteers. “We really appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you to Hayley, Imaan, Francois, Verna, Annette, Desiree, Rene and Jean for all your help with our animals and making sure that they remained our number one priority. Thank you to Elsie Went and Tarryn Britz who also jumped in and assisted with the sales at our SCPA stall,” said the SPCA.

“And finally, to our SPCA team and committee – thank you for all your incredible hard work, creativeness, dedication, enthusiasm, excitement, fun-loving personalities, support to each other and for having such an incredible passion and love for our animals. Thank you for what we stand for as a team and for what we are still going to achieve together for our animals.”

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

More photos... 

The Louis Trichardt SPCA turned 30 on Saturday and residents had the opportunity to join in the celebrations. One of the highlights of the party was the "bail-out" episode. A few (unlucky) individuals had to be bailed out of the kennels' jail. The mission was to collect as much bail money as possible, to set them free, and raise some much-needed funds for the SPCA. Leigh Bristow from the Sumbandila Scholarship Trust was the top jailbird of the day and raised R10 000 in bail money as a donation for the local SPCA.

Alicia Thomas, one of the local volunteers and a committee member of the Louis Trichardt Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), with a little girl who came to visit the animals during the SPCA’s 30^th birthday carnival on Saturday.