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IFAW, CLAW and Babesia in South Africa

After a long flight over night and a short stop in Namibia (which seems to be bursting at the seams with some of the most gigantic insects you can imagine in your worst nightmares) I arrived in the city of Johannesburg. Only hours from England but a world away from the grey and frosty place I’d left the day before. I and my IFAW companion Clare had come to see the work of some of the IFAW-funded projects caring for the pets in the country’s poorest townships. IFAW stands for the International Fund for Animal Welfare and I have been involved with them several times over the years.

One of the projects they fund is in Soweto just outside Jo’burg and has been running for about fifteen years under the supervision of its founder; an incredible woman called Cora Bailey. She funded the whole thing for many years until she came to IFAW’s attention and they now fund much of the project with her. Some may ask why anyone should care so much about pets when there is such a massive scale of human poverty but we should never under-estimate how much a part of the family a dog is or how important a cat is if you live in a rat-infested shack dwelling. Cora has been building bridges with the communities here for almost two decades and the few days we spent with her made me realise once again how much we take for granted in our daily lives.

Over the next few months I thought I would share a few of the many stories which appeared in our travels around Soweto with you. Not only are they interesting stories from a clinical point of view but a fascinating insight into a totally different world.

Cora’s amazing project is called CLAW which stands for Community Led Animal Welfare and it is immediately apparent that the community is what it is all about. Cora has an incredibly gentle way of dealing with the people who live here and with their animals. At the same time she is resolute in getting her information and education across and it is this that has made her project so successful.

On arriving at the clinic we are greeted by the ‘inmates’; a beautiful group of happy mongrels who are either receiving treatment, have just been neutered or are awaiting new homes. They act like a laid-back pack, no hint of aggression among them and it seems like there are dogs everywhere. It turns out to be cleaning time and while a band of hard-working carers go about the morning routine the dogs that are well enough go outside to play. It is a wonderful sight.

Inside we are introduced to the dogs too poorly to go out yet. It becomes very clear that the majority of the problems seen here are all totally preventable. It is a shock to me because I work in a very privileged society. I am told that they still see cases of distemper on a regular basis and one of the clinics biggest aims to get the dog population vaccinated. They also educate about worms and the dangers of spread to children and adults alike and all dogs presented to the clinic receive vaccinations and wormers when needed. However, one of their biggest problems is tick-borne disease, especially a disease called Babesia. This is what a whole room of dogs in kennels in front of us have.

I remember back in the dim and distant past in university being taught about exotic disease and I remember being told about Babesia but I have never seen a case because although it is in mainland Europe it is not seen here. This is one of the reasons we are so strict about dogs travelling to Europe or further afield being treated for ticks before re-entering Britain.

These poor dogs look miserable and are the only ones with food in front of them that hasn’t been demolished in seconds. Babesia is a tiny organism that gets ‘injected’ by ticks after a day or two of being attached to the dog to feed. The organisms then go into to the red blood cells and start to multiply inside the cells. This damages the cells and causes them to burst but the presence of the organism also causes the body to try to attack it so effectively the body starts attacking its own blood cells.

Very quickly these dogs become severely anaemic, depressed, they get incredible jaundice as you can see in the photograph of the yellow gums and can get a high fever and multiple organ failure. There is no doubt that this is a rapidly fatal disease and the affected dogs feel and look terrible. It can be treated and Cora tells us that they have a very good record at the clinic of recovery. She then tells me that they see a staggering 3 or 4 cases a day!

As I look round the room at the sad faces and later I see the ongoing battle to dip every dog that comes to the mobile clinics to stop them getting ticks or kill the ones that are already there I can’t help wishing I could give them a life-time’s supply of Frontline. The dip chemical that is used is not pleasant and actually only lasts for about 4 days against ticks. The dogs clearly hate being put in it as I’m sure anyone who has tried to bath a reluctant dog will understand. The mobile units go to as many places every week as they can but it is a never-ending problem. We use Frontline all the time and it stops ticks attaching for a month at a time but it is simply too costly to use on the scale it is needed.

It is the first of an inevitable number of stark and unsettling realisations of what we have at our disposal and also how many of us don’t realise how lucky we are. I couldn’t help looking back at how many people I have seen in practice who have whined or moaned about the cost of this great drug or who have suggested that we as vets only recommend it because we make money. When you think of these sweet dogs absolutely covered in ticks just remember how lucky your dog is to be living here. Maybe next time you buy a pack of Frontline you could send a cheque for the same amount to IFAW. Come to think of it just send them anything you can, these dogs and literally dying for it.

Just £2 will vaccinate, worm and dip a dog. For information on donating go to www.ifaw.org or telephone 0207 587 6700

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