The Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA) last Saturday the 1st of December 2018 celebrated its successful 10 years of continued contributions towards improvement of animal health and welfare in Malawi.
LSPCA which recently got a recognition by the Malawi government as the first large Veterinary hospital in Malawi, was set up in 2008 when the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security gave their backing to a group of individuals who were concerned about the level of welfare given to animals in Malawi.
Before 2008, there wasn’t any organized group of people that were taking care of animal welfare and animal protection issues here in Malawi.
It has been a long ten years journey for LSPCA. According to the executive director of LSPCA Lieza Swennen; Our ten years has been successful when we looked at what LSPCA has achieved over the years. “LSPCA now has a Vet hospital, a Vet program at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), a Centre of Animal Welfare, and also a welfare discussion platform,” said Swennen.
LSPCA’s anniversary celebration was presided over by the Director of Animal Health and Livestock Development -Dr Patrick Chikungwa who was also the guest of honour for the day. Dr Chikungwa hailed LSPCA for closely working with the ministry of Agriculture (Malawi) to achieve many notable milestones in animal health and animal welfare over the past decade.
Since 2008, LSPCA has treated tens of thousands of animals on site and through mobile clinics mostly dogs, cats, livestock and donkeys.
LSPCA has bigger plans for the next coming ten years, together with the department of Animal Health and Livestock Development, and LUANAR, LSPCA looks forward to improve Vet services to rural people who normally don’t afford the luxury of having a Vet around.