By Karen Menczer | Executive Directive, Animal-Kind International
We have some potentially good news!
About a month ago, Uganda's National Environmental Management Authority acknowleged our request for an appeal to the blanket decision not allowing construction in or near wetlands. As we've said many times before in our updates and to NEMA (including in the Environmental & Social Assessment), the USPCA will not be building or affecting any on- or off-site wetlands.
In reponse to our appeal letter, a staff person from NEMA visited the USPCA's new plot and agreed that the upland, where the USPCA will place all structures and where all shelter activity will take place, was created when the expressway was built and as such, is legally upland (having once been wetland, but used to place fill from expressway construction--for which a permit was given) and available --as upland-- for the USPCA to build on. The NEMA wetlands expert also concurred that the proposed construction would not occur in the wetland nor impact wetlands on- nor off-site.
When he was done with his visit, the NEMA expert told the USPCA representatives that a letter will be sent to USPCA management with the decision on the appeal, which could take about 6 weeks.
We hope and think that we'll soon be able to re-start our move to the new USPCA shelter location. We can't imagine anything legal that could get in the way of NEMA re-issuing a more reasonable, just decision.
Meanwhile, the new site continues to house fewer than 50 dogs (50 dogs is the limit without NEMA permission). Two caretakers work at the new site. The dogs have been spayed or neutered, vaccinated, given parasite treatments, and receive 2 meals a day, and always have fresh water. They do look like happy, well-cared for dogs-as you can see in the pictures.
We're still making sure, thanks to donations to AKI, that all of the ~350 cats and dogs under the USPCA's care are fed twice a day. Donations to AKI also pay 100% of salaries of all USPCA staff. BUT Land Fund donations remain in our Land Fund for the day that we can return to building the new shelter and move all cats and dogs!
In the meantime, enjoy a few recent adoption photos (all cats and dogs are spayed/neutered before adoption, or if too young, shelter manager Jackie contacts them when it's time and they are s/n'd after adoption--no one ever gets away from Jackie without spay/neuter!).
As always, we'll keep you posted on progress of the new shelter site.
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