South Africa
NSPCA urges urgent intervention over animal feed crisis at correctional centres─── ZENANDE MPAME 16:09 Fri, 24 Apr 2026
The national council of SPCAs has urgently called on the minister of correctional services to intervene at agricultural correctional centres across South Africa.
The organisation says the ongoing situation reflects a serious breakdown in compliance with the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962. This places thousands of animals at continued risk of suffering.
In March last year, the NSPCA intervened at several correctional facilities where farm animals were reportedly not being fed due to budget constraints. Thousands of animals were affected at the time, prompting urgent engagement at the ministerial level.
Over the past year, the organisation has continued inspections at correctional facilities to monitor compliance and prevent animal suffering.
“Our inspections have found that animals are again not receiving adequate species-specific feed, mainly due to budget and procurement failures,” said NSPCA spokesperson Samanta Stelli. “As a result, some animals have had to be humanely euthanized to prevent further suffering.
“We have requested immediate corrective action to ensure proper feeding and compliance with the Animals Protection Act. If there is no improvement, we will consider appropriate legal steps to address the situation.”
Explaining the role of farm animals at correctional facilities, ministry of correctional services media liaison officer Euné Wessels said they are used for slaughter to supply offender rations, reducing reliance on external procurement, and generating cost savings.
Animal husbandry programmes also function as training, equipping offenders with skills to improve employability or support self-employment upon release, to reduce the tendency to reoffend.
“Communication channels between the NSPCA and the department have now been reestablished, which we believe will improve coordination and response to animal welfare concerns,” said Wessels.
“The ministry is confident that, going forward, strengthened collaboration between the organisation and the department will ensure that issues relating to animal welfare are effectively addressed.”
“The department has allocated R176,3m of its budget towards animal feed for the 2026/27 financial year, an increase of R11,8m from the R164,5m budgeted in 2025/26.”
To avoid shortfalls, future budgets will be informed by previous expenditure patterns, while timeous payment of animal feed invoices will be prioritised, she said.
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