Excellence in Action: Highlighting Rabies Centers of Excellence
In August 2024, GARC recognized its first Rabies Centers of Excellence (RCE), and since then many more organizations have joined our community of dedicated individuals working towards eliminating rabies globally. RCEs approach rabies elimination in their community with a keen awareness of local challenges. As part of our Communities against Rabies initiative, we want to showcase the incredible work that they do.
To be recognized as an RCE, an organization needs to have fulfilled very specific requirements. We believe that their stories can help to inspire others to also work towards this prestigious achievement! To celebrate this remarkable accomplishment, this series of articles will promote the ongoing work of RCEs, showing what excellence in action looks like. Through this series we will also introduce them to the rest of the world, highlighting their achievements and sharing the lessons that they have learned from being an RCE.
As the first Excellence in Action, we are excited to introduce you to Cat Angel Refuge, South Africa.
Cat Angel Refuge is an organization working in the North West Province of South Africa. Joanne Wilson, Inspector and Cattery Manager at Cat Angel Refuge shares their work and some of the lessons that they have learned from being an RCE.
Background: Tell us more about who you are and where you work?
Joanne: Cat Angel Refuge originally started as Angels Refuge in 2011, with the original idea to be an alternative to the SPCA in Mafikeng. Sadly 2 of the co-founders have since passed on. In 2017, we decided to become a cat only refuge, an alternative for special needs cats to go to.
This all dramatically changed in 2019 when we started working in the Ramotshere Moiloa District of the North West Province in South Africa. The SPCA closed down in 2012, and there were a few haphazard attempts at animal rescue before we started working there. But there were no outreach and no education projects.
In 2021 the hunt for a premises began and we were able to rent and then buy the ex SPCA premises. Before we even moved in, word had spread to the children in the nearby township that we were there to help the animals, and as we were moving in, they started arriving with their dogs for help.
This opened our eyes to the massive need for help and the fact the children especially wanted help. We went from being a refuge to being an open admission shelter.
What was one of your biggest challenges becoming a shelter?
Joanne: The need was huge! Before moving into our current premises, we spent our days travelling 134kms a minimum of once a day, and many days three to four times a day. We are currently the only rescue/outreach organization in the whole of the Ramotshere Moiloa area, a staggering total of 7193km2.
Why did you want to be a GARC Rabies Center of Excellence?
Joanne: Rabies is starting to rear its head in our area and being an ex-paramedic, I understand the importance of rabies education. Having completed the courses with GARC, I feel more empowered to educate the public with greater confidence and knowledge. Having the certificates demonstrate to the role players in the villages and communities that I have the knowledge and expertise on the subject.
The first talk I gave was to a grade R class (6-7 year olds) and watching them enjoy and understand the “be a rock”, “be a tree” concept! All the amazing questions they asked showed me that the youth are very willing to learn, and if just one of the children is not bitten because I took the time to spend 30 minutes teaching them, it is worth every second.
Every single animal we sterilise is automatically given a rabies vaccination. Marico Bosveld Diere Kliniek is assisting with this. Added to this, the clinics and police in the three towns and 40 villages we cover refer any dog bites and any ‘acting strange’ animals to us as they know and understand we can educate all involved about rabies and the dangers.
If enough people join together, we can end rabies by 2030!
Do you have any big plans for 2025?
Joanne: We have started a basic training manual for the police and our aim in 2025 is to hand it to the police, as well as the Community Police Forum (CPF). The CPF acts as a bridge between the national police force and the community, and acts as an advisory and support group within the community. We also want to give the various creches and schools fun activities for the children to do to educate them on safety around dogs and animals in general, what to do if bitten, and the importance of their animals being vaccinated.
We believe in leading by example, so our animals at the shelter all have their rabies vaccinations done on intake and then annually. We did our yearly vaccinations on the 27th of March 2025 and a total of 81 cats and 44 dogs are now safe from rabies for another year. This is a public event so that the community can see we lead by example.
How have you used the GARC resources in your community?
Joanne: The resources provided by GARC are amazing, especially the Want a friend, be a friend booklet. We printed different pages from the booklet and each child had a different page of the book. After the children finished colouring the pages, they then had to create the story by put all their pages in the correct order. This brought about discussions about the how and why of treating animals and especially dogs properly. We discussed how the animals also had feelings, and felt fear and pain.
To read more about Cat Angel Refuge’s incredible work – click here!