Dear Readers,

My name is Animal. USPCA takes care of me and my friends when we are mistreated, abandoned, or both. I am writing to put my case forward. We love humans - especially the dog variety of us. Sometimes we find kind humans and end up having a great life. However, more often we end up having a miserable life, especially those of us who are selected to be guard dogs. We are locked up in a small box, usually with a heat absorbing mabati roof, where we are left all day with no water. At night we are let out to guard the compound. We even get beaten to make us more aggressive. You know what? We would give our lives to defend our owners if we are well-treated. If we are mistreated we just think of escape. Loyalty? I don’t think so.

Our mate, the female dog, keeps getting pregnant: having gone through the pain of giving birth, her puppies are just taken away, put in a plastic bag and thrown in the garbage dump. We wish someone would tell her owner that USPCA organises free spaying clinics. Just one phone call and we can put her on the list for the next clinic. My next message is to the expatriate variety of humans. If you are here for a short time and want animal company, but you know you can’t take us with you when you leave, why not join the exclusive club of Foster Home Givers? You can enjoy our company and at the same time help the USPCA. You see, USPCA has no permanent headquarters: they work from a telephone line with help from kind animal lovers who give time and care to those of us in need.

Kazuko Parrot on line now!! We are a new part of USPCA. Our original guardians UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) work closely with USPCA on parrot rescue. My friends and I have a variety of problems to cope with. Firstly, why capture us and put us in tiny cages? We love to fly around and explore our surroundings. It makes us sad that our owners clip our wings to impair our flight. Sometimes it is done so badly that our wings are damaged permanently. Some of our older mates will never be able to be rehabilitated to the wild.

What about the youngsters who could be rehabilitated into the wild by USPCA, but their badly-clipped wings make this impossible? By the way, we live a long time, way past 50 years. Imagine 50 years of numbing pain every day because we cannot even stretch our wings or get a bit of exercise. Luckily for us though, you humans can be criminally prosecuted for owning a parrot without a valid license from UWA. We are very curious animals, downright nosey in fact. Please keep us where there is a lot of activity and company, we love that. My name is Animal and I represent all species. Educate yourselves, Humans: we have a lot to teach you. Teach your children to treat us with kindness and to help an animal in distress. USPCA is run by volunteers, but they need lots more volunteers so they can reach out further. Bottom line – USPCA relies on donations, the more funds available, the more can be done.

A note from USPCA:
USPCA is best known for its work in rescuing abandoned or wounded animals, caring for them and finding good homes for them. However, USPCA does a lot more and hopes to expand its activities with the help of those who feel it is a worthy cause.

How many of you have driven behind a cattle truck and seen those horrendous scenes of overcrowding with limbs caught outside? How many of you have wondered why no one does anything about this? USPCA, in particular Katia Ruiz Allard, has been fighting for years and is finally able to establish checkpoints along the major roads to enforce safer standards for the cattle. In spite of great difficulties there have been some major breakthroughs. USPCA believes that education is the key to changing people’s appreciation of animals and teaching them to care for the animals in their lives. Our USPCA vet, Berna, holds humane education classes and our organisation provides free spaying and rabies vaccinations.

Parrot Rescue:
This is a relatively new activity in which USPCA is working closely with the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA). Whenever a parrot is rescued, it is brought to USPCA for care and, if possible, reintegration into the wild. If you see any parrots housed in small cages or in any way distressed, please report to us. Parrots are a protected species and parrot owners without a license face criminal charges.

Foster Homes:
We are always looking for kind, generous people who will house our abandoned animals till we can find a home for them. We have several cases of expatriates here for a limited amount of time who want to care for an animal, but know they cannot take them home when they leave. This is a way to enjoy the company of animals and help a good cause.

USPCA NEEDS

1. To find premises where we can build kennels to house animals in need.
2. Mobile animal rescue vehicles which can be dispatched on a rescue mission

3) More volunteers

1. Funds and manpower to continue with our animal check-point patrols to regulate a more humane way of transporting cattle
2. Help from schools to integrate an animal education programme for their students
3. Donations to enable us to have more free spaying and Rabies vaccination clinics
4. A permanent headquarters where we can care for our animals

To help the USPCA, email us at uspca2003(at)yahoo.com, or call 0772 403 789. Keep an eye out for our new website, which should be coming soon!