This July, four intrepid warriors took on the Jeep Warrior #5 ‘Black Ops’ race in Ballito to raise funds for the Dr Mike Hardwich Foundation. The race included 30 obstacles over 18km – no mean feat!
In the photo: Brett Bosman, Jason Bottomley, Mark Brown, and John Atkinson at the end of the race.
John Atkinson (who you may recognise as the Good Samaritan, directing traffic in Hillcrest during a recent power outage) and Mark Brown finished in 3:09:27, while Brett Bosman and Jason Bottomley finished in 3:25:00. Together, they raised around R9 000, but this is subject to change as donations are still coming in.
Dr Mike Hardwich (Lowry) is a veterinarian based in Hillcrest. His busy practice spends 90% of its time treating your average dog and cat, animals just like your dog or cat. But your dog is not the norm. Your love and care for their wellbeing is in dire contradiction to 85% of the six million dogs in South Africa who have no access to veterinary services. It was this stark statistic that got Dr Mike thinking eight years ago.
“It really struck me one day when I drove through underprivileged areas to get to a film shoot that not 15 km’s from my practice were hundreds of dogs that had never seen a vet in their lives,’ Dr Mike explains. “More concerning was that these dogs were not spayed or castrated and were procreating at a rate that is almost incomprehensible when you think about it. What was happening to all those puppies? What kind of life would await them in an environment where the owners haven’t got the financial resources or accessibility to a vet? Where it is truly ‘survival of the fittest’ but where for many the reality is an early death, either by human hand or abandonment and starvation or a life of roaming, foraging or forming hunting packs? How big a part could I play to help stem the tide of unwanted dogs?”
The statistics Dr Mike refers to are staggering. It is estimated that two unsterilized dogs will produce 456 000 offspring in 5 years. Repeated pregnancies cause strain on any female dog, but these belonging to underprivileged people find it even more difficult as they are often underfed, leaving their bodies weak to begin with. Her life span is also drastically reduced and she has an increased risk of breast cancer along with uterus infections. Many of these dogs live in townships and informal settlements where financial resources are tight and knowledge and education about animal care and health needs is lacking.
Mike’s solution to the problem he saw on his doorstep was to get stuck in and take action. Three years ago he, together with his assistant, Eric Zungu, started going out to the local Shongweni community and collecting the dogs in need of sterilisation or other veterinary care such as vaccinating, deworming, treating of mange, and so much more. They would bring them back to the practice and operate or treat them in their lunch hours.
“We have perfected the art of sterilisation against the clock,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s like the old adage, ‘if you want something done, give it to a busy person.’ Knowing we had full appointment books starting again after lunch and wanting to treat as many dogs as possible in the hour meant we learned to operate fast and efficiently. We can now sterilise 8 to 10 dogs in an hour, even more if most of them are male. You must remember for these dogs, just being collared and taken away in a van is extremely stressful. The faster we can get them in, operated on and back to their homes, the better.
“Collecting the dogs from the informal settlements is no walk in the park, but we think we have come up with an efficient means of doing so in the shortest amount of time. It is crucial to get one person, usually a non-working ‘Gogo’ living within the community to understand what we do and encourage their neighbours to let us help their animals. This avoids the need for difficult conversations and negotiations with the owners. Many are worried their dog is being stolen or taken away to be euthanased, others simply don’t believe the treatment will be free and others don’t want to be interfered with or feel they are being criticised for being neglectful.
“Once the owners understand why we are doing this, that we are not there to pass judgement but are trying to help their animal have better health and address the problem of their dog having unwanted puppies and that their dog will be returned to them in the afternoon, we then have to catch the dog,” adds Eric. “This is the trickiest part. These dogs are used to running free every day, many of them aren’t even used to human touch or interaction. When I put the collar on them, they scream their heads off. To anyone listening it would sound like they are being murdered. Then I get them into the van and that is another foreign experience for them. This is why we prefer to tranquilise the dogs for the drive back to the clinic. It makes the whole experience much easier. Once they come back after the surgery, although they are still a bit groggy, you take such joy from seeing them happy to be back in their home and knowing you have helped them.”
Mike says that once they have established a presence in a community and the awareness of what he is doing spreads, the response is almost overwhelming. They struggle to keep up with the requests from owners for help. It is a lack of education and not neglect that is the problem. “As dog owners many of them are different to the suburban dog owner in that the dog is not regarded as a member of the family that sleeps or lives indoors, or is petted and cuddled and regarded as a ‘furry human’. Nevertheless they are still regarded as pets, relied on for security and often hunting too. The owners are often either not aware of the need for, or simply lack the finances or access to veterinary care. Our ‘payment’ is always received from the people who are so grateful and appreciative of the fact that out of the blue, our van arrives and their animal is given the treatment and sterilisation it needs. Although the conditions of these animals are often heartbreaking, we go to bed each night knowing we’ve alleviated the problem of many unwanted litters and the strain of numerous pregnancies for the animals we’ve treated that day. It’s only a drop in the ocean but it’s a step in the right direction.” And what more touching reward than being sent a packet of avocado’s with a note to say “ thank and please note that these avo’s come from Woolworths not my tree” from an old lady whose dog we sterilised.
Gratitude certainly warms the heart and makes any job worthwhile, but there are hard costs associated with Dr Mike’s unwavering commitment to the sterilisation problem. The drugs and equipment, as well as running costs of the vehicle’s daily trips into the townships equate to R500 for every sterilisation undertaken.
To help cover those costs and raise funds to continue the work, Mike founded a non-profit organisation, the Dr Mike Hardwich Foundation three years ago. Through the proceeds of three books (first The Lion and the Lamb, second The Rhino and the Rat, and third The Tiger and the Tortoise) he has penned about his experiences as a vet, and various fundraising efforts, the Foundation is gradually starting to alleviate some of the financial burden on Dr Mike and his practice.
Dr Mike’s vision doesn’t start and end in the suburbs surrounding Hillcrest however. His long term vision for the Foundation is that it become a national fundraiser whereby other vets who identify similar needs within reach of their practices are able to volunteer their surgical skills and time, with the costs covered by the Foundation.
“Imagine if every vet in South Africa, of which it is estimated there are 2500 registered and working, was able to sterilise or provide veterinary treatment to just 5 dogs a week every week.
We could virtually eradicate the problem of unwanted litters in a few years. We always think difficult problems require complex solutions but really it is so simple when you think about it. The more sterilisations undertaken, the less suffering for these animals and their offspring and the less burden on SPCA’s and animal shelters. The R500 cost per sterilisation now becomes negligible when you consider the massive running costs and overheads that organisations like the SPCA and animal welfare groups have to cover year after year. And many of the animals they take in end up being euthanased anyway. I would welcome hearing from other vets who may be interested in working with me and the Foundation in this task.”
To donate to the Dr Mike Hardwich Foundation please visit www.mhfoundation.org.za, email foundation@mhfoundation.org.za or call 031 765 2123.