The MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform, Ms. Mase Manopole, has thanked the veterinarians in our Province for their effort in bringing animal health care to our communities.
Today, 24 April 2021, is the World Veterinary Day- a day which was created in the year 2000 by the World Veterinary Association, to highlight and promote the lifesaving work performed by veterinarians around the globe.
In the Northern Cape, the department have got seven veterinary offices across the Province and one laboratory in Kimberly (see the list below). The department is also boasting with a state of the art mobile animal health care clinic- which can reach our rural and far-flung areas of our Province.
In the Province, the World Veterinarian Day will be celebrated on a date still to be determined in the Pixley Ka Seme Region.
Wishing our dedicated Veterinarians, in our Province and across the world, well on this important day, MEC Mase Manopole said: “The veterinary profession is an important career worldwide. We appreciate and value their work of standing up for animal’s rights. They protect them against harmful diseases, and nurse them back to health if they are injured or ill. My wish is that they don’t tire but continue with the good work.”
MEC Manopole indicated that animals are a humanbeing’s companions, workers, eyes, ears, and our food.
“For many years, they have kept us company, at time they can provide amusing relief, they also serve as valuable assistants.
“This complicated and crucial relationship between humans and animals needs a robust but regulated approach to ensure its sustainability and its valuable contribution to life as we know it.”
MEC Manopole said for years, humans and animals around the world, have always co-existed together. “We have domesticated some of them, while others remain wild and are sometimes endangered by our activities,” she said.
“The relationship between us and animals can be described from two angles, positive and negative.
“The relationship is negative if we humans just take and take from the animals and give nothing back (just hunting and no protecting), if we protect the animals, we however contribute to a positive relationship.”
Animals contribute to our lives in various ways:
- As workers: horses pulling or transporting, guide dogs, police dogs,
- As companions: pets, especially now during lockdown to support mental health, trauma counselling,
- As resources: food, meat, eggs, dairy, and clothing like wool,
- As protectors: guard us, do search and rescue,
- As ecological balancers: bees that pollinate, birds that control pests, etc,
- As symbols of creativity: in art and culture, film, and religion.
The day will be celebrated through collaborations with stakeholders such as the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC).
The role of the SAVC is to ensure that registered veterinarians and para-veterinary professionals render veterinary services to all South Africa’s people and animals at an acceptable standard.
This means that the SAVC registers veterinarians and para-veterinary professionals and determines and monitors standards of training and standards of practice through various processes.
“We appreciate the collaboration we have with the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC), it is a rewarding one,” she said.
“On this day, I would like to thank all Animal Healthcare Professionals in our Province for their incredible work- we celebrate their achievements for all the past years and hope that they will keep up the good work and leave behind a legacy for the coming generation. Together we are working tirelessly to improve animal healthcare throughout our beautiful Province,” MEC Manopole concluded.
