Animal welfare organisation, Oudtshoorn Dogs In Need (Odin) had to race against the clock to ensure 23 furry friends were rehomed or fostered before their eviction from a municipal building on Monday.
And while good Samaritans arrived to adopt and foster many of the pets, at least 15 were still without a home on eviction day on Monday.
Odin - a pro-life organisation that focuses on outreach programmes for animals in need in the Karoo - put out a plea to the public to avoid having, “to make a call that we have never done before” as their eviction from the Oudtshoorn kennels approached.
During a council meeting last year, a decision was taken that the premises from which Odin had been offering services to the community would be strictly for municipal use.
Mayor Chris Macpherson said the NPO had initially been ordered to vacate the premises by March 10, but this was extended after a written request was made to the municipality.
“The animal welfare organisations which have been using the pound as kennels were given notice to vacate following a council decision in October 2022. The first notice instructed them to vacate by March 10. The organisations approached the municipality for an extension. An extension was given till July 31 with the condition that the welfare organisations should decrease the number of dogs from month to month and that the last date would be July 31. A letter reminding them of this was sent to the organisations last week. This was an agreement of which they were well aware and agreed to,” said Macpherson.
According to an NPO representative, another written request for an extension for the eviction had been sent to the municipality but by print deadline yesterday they had not received a response.
A press briefing on the matter is expected to be held on Tuesday by the municipality.
Cape Times