This week my very elderly dog, Diesel ( Labrador cross Weimaraner) developed severe vestibular syndrome with vomiting and circling and loss of balance for the second time in a few months. As she was also getting hard of hearing, had cataracts, and arthritis which was quite severe at times, I made the hard decision to put her to sleep. I am sad, but accept that it was appropriate and necessary. When the rains start, I will plant an indigenous tree on her grave. I also took my daughter's little Maltese type mutt, which she saved from certain death on the N2 to a groomer. I drove 20 km over the mountain, dropped her off and went shopping at the nearby mall. Or at least, that was the plan! I was barely there before the groomer phoned to say that they could not handle this 4.5 kg man-eating monster! I collected Maddie, placed her on the car seat, and as I drove off, reached out to give her a sympathetic pat. Her response was a vicious bite! Luckily she has very blunt teeth, so only caused a bruise, but unpleasant all the same! On Tuesday (it feels like weeks ago - not just 4 days) I took her to the vet clinic where I sedated and clipped her. In spite of deep sedation, she managed to get about 5 painful bites in! Yesterday my son-in-law's mother phoned. Daughter and son-in-law's big dog was very ill. I rushed over to find her extremely feverish and depressed. I am not working at the moment and it was after hours. It was a bit of a struggle to find a vet. Thank you so much for being there when we needed you, Dr. +Alex Rowe Then we had to get this nearly 60 kg Irish Wolfhound cross into a SUV. A challenge for three grandparents! Luckily my other son-in-law is a big strong guy and could be called upon to help. That took care of most of last night and today, as I spent a lot of time in the vet hospital helping to take care of her and collect first a blood donor, then blood, and start a blood transfusion. She only started to show some improvement by late afternoon today.
In the midst of all my personal drama, while driving earlier this week, I heard a radio interview with Mr. +Stan Wallace the Municipal Manager for Theewaterskloof - the region in which my home town, Grabouw, falls. He was responding to the fact that the community was most distressed because a wall at the local sports-field had fallen over, injuring 5 children. He said that Grabouw was the poorest municipality in the Western Cape, if not the country. There are limited means and sports-fields are not a priority. As I drove I took in the vast squatter camps that have sprung up between the town and the N2 (National Road to Cape Town) in the past decade or so. About two years ago there was significant unrest because the schools could not accommodate all the newly arrived pupils. Early last year there were protests over farm wages. The vast majority are unemployed. The little work that the district (fruit picking and packing) offers, is seasonal. Other than some forestry, which is being scaled back as the government has decided that it is unprofitable, there is no industry besides farming.
Why then do the people come? I believe it is because Grabouw is the gateway to Cape Town for those coming from even more impoverished and under serviced areas in the Eastern Cape, elsewhere in South Africa and as far afield as Zimbabwe, Malawi and Somalia.
For the well heeled, it is a magnificent area with scenic beauty, fine restaurants, excellent wines and superb outdoor recreational facilities. For the poor, the summers are too hot, and the winters too cold, wet and miserable. For both groups, the proximity to Cape Town is a plus.
However, the squatter camps keep growing. Public transport takes two hours to Cape Town and costs nearly half a labourer's daily wage. Poverty and boredom increase the crime rate. The municipality does not have the means to provide services for all or even to maintain existing infrastructure in good condition. Mr. Wallace says that less than 45% of households in Grabouw pay rates and taxes, and even amongst those, many are poor payers. He and his team have the will to do as much as possible to advance the town and the region. He welcomes initiative and projects from the private sector. He acknowledges that the municipal funds are woefully inadequate.
On Thursday afternoon I headed to Cape Town to attend Standard Bank's WEF Davos feedback session with
I mentioned it to Mr Hogg, who suggested I blog about the local problems and challenges and see where it leads. Perhaps there is hope and help out there for the people of Grabouw. So for those of you who follow my blog because of its veterinary nature - keep reading! I will always be a vet at heart. Animal Welfare is as much an issue as people welfare in poor unstable communities. We shall get to that as well in due course.
Driving home, I saw a scrawny dog near the centre barrier of the three lane N2, searching for scraps, with cars in the fast lane whizzing past. There was just no way I could stop to try and save him. Chances are he is traffic savvy and semi-feral, and even if I could stop safely, that may have caused him to flee into the traffic and get killed. Near the turn-off to the airport, there was a horse grazing on the grass verge of the highway.
South Africa - land of such promise and such despair.
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