Open Letter to the Luderitz Community

Dear Friends and Fellow Stakeholders,
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Luderitz has been in existence since 1996. It has endeavoured in all these years to provide a supporting role and presence to the Luderitz Community and the Local Authorities, and whilst there were always numerous challenges to contend with, it was for the most part able to deliver a service, albeit limited in light of the particular situation of Luderitz.
A volunteer service such as the SPCA fuels itself through a group of dedicated and selfless individuals
who staunchly believe in a cause, and it sustains itself through the continuous and empathetic support of
the community it serves as well as that of the local authorities.
In the past couple of years, the Luderitz SPCA has found itself battling more and more with the changing
environment of the Luderitz societal landscape, as it were, and as a consequence has found it extremely
difficult to manage to keep itself on an even keel – in other words, to keep a steady and committed group
of volunteers operating on a daily basis on its mostly thankless and emotionally taxing tasks, as well as
keeping its expenses in line with that of its donations and fund raising.
It is very sad to have to admit that we cannot continue as we currently are operating. It has become virtually impossible to replenish the Committee with committed volunteers, to receive the continuous support of a critical mass of citizens and business sufficient to sustain our financial needs, and to operate in an environment where it has become increasingly frustrating to rely on the Local Authorities to meet
their obligations, as what we understand them to be.
With these realities in our midst, we have decided that we will be closing down our facilities with effect 30
September 2010.
We will place the SPCA into dormant status. Our bank account, which currently shows a positive balance of approximately N$ 40.000 and which we predict will have an estimated N$ 28.000 positive balance by
end September 2010, will be placed on hold until further notice.
We sincerely hope that the SPCA will be resuscitated in the future as it serves the Community and its animals an invaluable service and a ‘home’ of dignity and respect.
To each and every business and person that have assisted us in these past 14 years, we and all the
animals thank you with all our hearts.
Yours in Animal Welfare,
SPCA Luderitz Committee

SOCIETY FOR
PREVENTION
OF CRUELTY
TO ANIMALS
P O BOX 1147
LUDERITZ NAMIBIA
TEL: 081 128 7416
FAX: 063 203884