Collaborating for Change: Improving Animal Welfare in Zimbabwe

Nancy presenting at a meeting with stakeholders.

As an animal lawyer in Zimbabwe and a Global Ambassador for the Center for Animal Law Studies, I’ve spent the past year focusing on building a healthier and more compassionate world for animals, starting with my local community. We live in a world where the health and welfare of animals and the environment has become just as important as that of human beings. Zoonotic diseases like Covid-19, Ebola, and avian influenza or bird flu have made us realize that humans aren’t the only important beings on the earth. How we treat animals has an impact on our health too. It is thus important to train and educate the communities we live in on proper companion animal care, as well as animal welfare and the law.

I developed an animal welfare awareness campaign project as my Global Ambassador Project that had multiple components. I’m delighted to now share this work.

Coalition Building

To kickstart my campaign, I engaged local stakeholders and built a coalition to work together on raising public awareness. I started with four institutions: a private veterinarian, Sirgivet; the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA); the Government veterinarian; and the health department of my local Municipal Council as each of these local institutions work with the community. All four institutions are also involved in creating a healthy environment for animals and managing it. I approached each of them and shared my idea of building a coalition of stakeholders who could work together.

Following individual visits with each institution, I coordinated and led a meeting with all stakeholders. At that meeting, we decided to work together and then embarked on our first animal welfare community awareness program involving rabies vaccinations.

Raising Public Awareness Regarding Animal Welfare

A rabid dog had been located in one of the local areas and containing the situation required a multi-stakeholder approach. Working together, we planned and executed an animal welfare awareness campaign in three different neighborhoods where we offered free rabies vaccinations for dogs and disseminated information on animal welfare. Vaccination points were set up in multiple neighborhoods. For each dog brought in for vaccination, we gathered a brief history of the dog and the dog’s name, age, sex, last vaccination date and address. Additionally, a local vet conducted a wellness examination. I also educated each dog’s owners on proper care and shared the legal requirements to meet their obligations for care, including: limits on how many dogs are to be kept per household; mandatory vaccinations; and the five freedoms of animal welfare.

On one of the visits at the local SPCA, I toured their facilities, taking note of what needed to be done to improve the lives of the animals who reside there. SPCA cares for stray animals, sick or abused animals rescued from their owners, illegally bred animals, and any animal who needs a home. The SPCA also conducts rescue missions for sick, abused and neglected pets in the community and it had just received a total of 33 dogs rescued from an illegal breeder and suspected drug dealer. As an animal lawyer who previously worked as a prosecutor, I used my experience to seek a sentence of community service, so the accused could volunteer with SPCA and have a chance of rehabilitation whilst there. As a member of the community, he needed to be educated on proper pet ownership and animal welfare. The SPCA has also received two other members of the community to serve their sentence there and also be educated at the same time.

Ralph, who our community collaboration helped by providing veterinary care following injuries he sustained after being hit by a car.Another rescue dog we helped is Ralph, a dog from my neighborhood. I’d seen this dog basking in the sun for several days but not looking very healthy. I discovered that Ralph had been hit by a car. His owners had not bothered to take him to a veterinarian, and the pain and suffering he experienced made him start to lose weight and his bones were now sticking out due to the weight loss. I quickly engaged the SPCA and with their help we managed to rescue Ralph and took him to the local vet, Sirgivet where he was provided x-rays and scans to determine the extent of his leg injury. After a full examination, Ralph was provided medication to treat his ailments as he awaited surgery for a broken leg. His owners were also called in and we spoke to them about proper pet ownership and animal welfare. Even though Ralph’s vaccinations were current, his owners had neglected him when he needed them the most after being hit by a car. Because of this, Ralph was scheduled to stay at the local shelter until the SPCA deems his owners were fit to resume his care.

My animal welfare awareness program also extended to wildlife. I created a community engagement campaign in Guluji Village, a village that borders Gonarezhou National Park, where significant human and wildlife conflict occurs. Whilst addressing these issues, we also emphasized the need for villagers not to retaliate against the animals if they destroy crops or kill livestock. We shared information about the use of poisons to kill the animals and the negative effects those poisons have on the environment and people as well. I advocated for harmonious living between humans and animals. I also had the opportunity to train rangers and scouts at Save Valley Conservancy on animal welfare issues in their line of work, the One Health Concept. Training the rangers and scouts is important because they engage with the community surrounding the Conservancy on a daily basis.

Strengthening Local Animal Welfare Laws

Finally, I worked with Sirgivet to draft new by-laws for our town. The City of Masvingo already has the “Masvingo Control of Dogs By-laws” however, after reviewing them, we noted some areas that needed improvement. For example, we suggested that there must be a law that states that unless one is a registered breeder, their dogs must be spayed and neutered so as to control the stray dog population in the city. We worked together as a team and drafted new by-laws which we provided to the Legal and Health Department of the City Council and hope they will consider implementing. Another way we educate the community is through an online platform, where we use a group to disseminate information. We also provide question and answer sessions, offer daily nuggets on animal welfare, health and the law and, once in a while, we receive anonymous tips of animals being abused and we go and rescue them.

Conclusion

Through this work, I’ve been able to contribute to my local community, improve animal welfare laws and treatment of animals, and provide essential community education on animal law. I am honored to have been able to engage in this work through the Global Ambassador Program and extend my thanks to the Center for Animal Law Studies for making it possible.

About Nancy: Nancy Makuvise received her Animal Law LLM in 2022, as part of our first class of online advanced degree students. A Zimbabwean lawyer with a prosecutorial background, she is a lecturer and researcher at Great Zimbabwe University, as well as an independent consultant with legal expertise in wildlife crimes, animal law and welfare and the One Health Concept. Nancy has developed curriculum on wildlife law for University Students, trained rangers and scouts, investigators, prosecutors and magistrates on wildlife laws in Zimbabwe, educated communities on animal welfare, and co-authored a children’s book on animal welfare.

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded center within Lewis & Clark Law School operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax exemption, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.