History

Animal Issues Matter was founded in 2009 and registered as an Animal Welfare Organisation with the Department of Social Services (DoSS), South African Revenue Service as a Non-Profit and a Public Benefit Organisation and is a member of the Cape Animal Welfare Forum.

We believe in the foundation of Ethic and Moral principles with the outlook of providing a more dedicated, consistent and professional Animal Welfare Supervision to monitor animals in the South African Film Industry; to focus on specific communities to improve the general community’s animal welfare; to help other Animal Welfares in need of staffing and administrative assistance and to focus on the advancement of Animal Welfare legislation.

Our team has many years combined experience with animals and all fields of animal welfare in South Africa.

When AIM was founded, there was very little support offered by the Animal Welfare Sector to the South African Film Industry with regards to the use of animals for film and monitoring animals on set.

The growing international trend and move towards higher animal welfare standards has been recognised in South Africa and was identified in the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries South African Veterinary Strategy and Implementation Plan. As the Film Industry is a major contributor to the South African Economy, International eyes are on us.

Animal Welfare has become an emotive subject and industries that involve animals are open and subject to more and more scrutiny.

AIM is an Animal Welfare organisation not an Animal Rights organisation. We believe in upholding and promoting the highest animal welfare standards and we subscribe to the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE)’s definition of Animal Welfare.

Animal welfare means how an animal is coping with the condition in which it lives. An animal is in a good state of welfare is (as indicated by scientific evidence) it is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour, and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, dear and distress. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling and humane euthanasia.

AIM has worked and continues to work with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s, the State Veterinary Department, the Western Cape Provincial Government, the City of Cape Town, other animal welfares and organisation that believe in the advancement and development of Animal Welfare in South Africa.