22/09/2026
COME WITH US TO A SPAY DAY...
It starts early.
Long before the first dog arrives, there are tables to set up, cages to prepare, blankets to lay out and hot water bottles to fill.
The vets unpack their equipment.
The volunteers find their stations.
The bakkies head out into the community.
And then they start arriving.
Some walk through the door confidently.
Others have to be carried.
Some wag their tails. Some shake. Some look at us with those enormous eyes, wondering what on earth is happening.
They don't know it yet, but today will change the rest of their lives.
Each animal is booked in, weighed and carefully identified. They are given medication to help them relax and then, one by one, they move through the different stations.
Preparation.
Anaesthetic.
Shaving.
Surgery.
The room gets busy.
Vets work from one animal to the next. Volunteers move between stations. Dogs are carried in and out. Blankets are changed. Hot water bottles are reheated.
And slowly, the recovery area begins to fill.
This is where things become quieter.
Dogs lie wrapped in blankets while they wake up. Volunteers sit on the floor beside them, keeping them warm, rubbing an ear, stroking a head, whispering to them and watching carefully until those sleepy eyes begin to open.
And then, eventually, it's time to go home.
Sometimes an owner is already waiting at the door. Sometimes we load them back into the bakkies and take them home ourselves.
They leave a little groggy. Probably a little sore. With a blanket, some food and a whole lot of love. But they leave with something else too.
A different future.
For a female, it means no more litter after litter after litter. No more being surrounded by male dogs every time she comes into season.
No more puppies being born into communities already struggling to care for the animals they have.
For a male, it means he can no longer father litter after litter throughout the community.
And for both, sterilisation helps protect them from certain reproductive diseases, including reducing the spread of TVT.
One operation may not sound like much.
But one sterilised female can mean generations of puppies that will never be born into hunger, disease and neglect.
No unwanted litter struggling to survive.
No puppies dying from parvo because there simply wasn't money for vaccinations.
No mother having to do it all over again a few months later.
That is why we sterilise.
A spay day may look like vets, tables, bakkies, cages, blankets and a room full of volunteers sitting on the floor.
But what you're really looking at is prevention.
Preventing unwanted litters.
Preventing disease.
Preventing suffering before it begins.
We will never rescue our way out of animal overpopulation.
We have to stop the cycle.
One animal.
One family.
One community.
One spay day at a time.
STERI SQUAD
Because prevention is rescue too.
📸 Stafford Robinson
