GEORGE NEWS - Every day, the Garden Route SPCA (GRSPCA) is ridiculed and slated on social media, with many members of the public labelling them as 'killers'.

However, behind the criticism lies a far more complex and heartbreaking reality.

According to the GRSPCA's regional manager, Cheri Cooke, few people understand the scale of the crisis the SPCA deals with every single day. 

"Between our George and Mossel Bay branches, more than 900 animals arrive every month. That's almost 11 000 animals every year. Each one needing shelter, food, care and the chance of a new life," she explains.

Turning animals away is not an option. 

"If we were to close our doors when our kennels were full, then where would they go? We already know the answer, because we see it every single day. They would be dumped on highways. Left to starve in backyards. Drowned in rivers. Poisoned. Beaten. Or left to wander the streets until disease or cars claim them."

This, Cooke says, is the reality that forces them into heartbreaking decisions. "No one joins the SPCA to take life away," she stresses. "Our staff and volunteers are here because they love animals, because they believe in hope and healing. The hardest part of our work is not the long hours or the cruelty cases. It's looking into the eyes of an animal that trusts us and knowing the second chance never comes."

Cooke says every animal that doesn't make it is more than a number. "They are souls with names, stories and personalities. Every time, it breaks a piece of us. But leaving them to suffer alone, abandoned and unwanted would be even crueller."

Carrying the weight of judgement

As difficult as the work is, Cooke says the harshest blow often comes from the public.

"And as if carrying this burden were not heavy enough, we are so often ridiculed, criticised or condemned by the very public we serve. Those words cut deep, because no one grieves these losses more than the people who must make these decisions."

She asks for understanding and action. "Before you criticise, ask yourself if you've done anything to ease this burden. Come and volunteer. Adopt. Donate, or at the very least, just sterilise your pet. Be part of the solution. But please, don't condemn the very people who are standing between these animals and a world that has already failed them.

"Stand with us. Not against us."

This emaciated dog is one of the thousands of cases that the SPCA has had to deal with.Between the George and Mossel Bay branches, more than 900 animals arrive every month.‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’