Hosted by The National Council of Societies
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA)
Alberton, South Africa
September 19–21, 2002
"Motivates me to go back and give 'em hell next week!"
exclaimed one of the 60 participants at the close of the Pan
African Animal Welfare Workshop recently presented by HSI at
the Protea Hotel Country Lake Inn in Lakefield, Benoni, South
Africa. Hosted by South Africa's National Council of SPCAs, the
three-day workshop drew delegates from Botswana, South Africa,
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Issues addressed during the course of this second Pan
African workshop (the first was presented by HSI in 1999)
included:
- Making your organization part of your total
community
- Basic fund-raising and special events
- Social marketing made easy
- Humane organizations and veterinary relations
- Dog bite prevention
- Enhancing dog adoptions
- Solving animal behavior problems
Particularly popular was the presentation on stress
management. Feedback from participants confirmed that stress is
a serious concern shared by workers in the animal shelter or
animal welfare environment around the world. There is a
universal recognition that stress can affect the level of staff
effectiveness and professionalism and lead to burn-out. The
session offered ways to recognize and deal with "compassion
fatigue," as this syndrome has come to be called.
Workshop presenters included Andrew N. Rowan, Ph.D., Senior
Vice President, Research, Education, and International Issues,
The Humane Society of the United States and Vice President,
HSI; Neil W. Trent, HSI Executive Director; Martha C.
Armstrong, Senior Vice President, Companion Animals and Equine
Protection, The Humane Society of the United States and an HSI
Vice President; Pamela Burns, President and CEO, Hawaiian
Humane Society and Ed Clark, President, Wildlife Center of
Virginia.
