TEARS Animal Rescue welcomes new General Manager: Heidi May
Staff announcement – TEARS Animal Rescue welcomes new GM: Heidi May
Image supplied by the publicist
“I believe that how we treat others—human or animal—reflects who we truly are.”
– Heidi May
TEARS Animal Rescue is delighted to welcome their new General Manager, Heidi May. Heidi comes with much experience, compassion, and a passion for the humane and dignified treatment of animals and people.
Growing up on the Cape Flats, Heidi studied in Pretoria as a veterinary nurse and worked in Pretoria and Soweto before returning to Cape Town. She did a decade-long stint in the United Arab Emirates at a zoo, called Albustan Zoo, and then in a specialist private practice. Missing home, she eventually returned and settled into work at an animal welfare organisation in Khayelitsha, “doing what I love!”, she says. Heidi decided to open her own primary health care clinic last year but missed her connection to the animal welfare environment and jumped at this opportunity to lead the TEARS team.
“One of my dreams in animal welfare is to create an environment where all organisations work together towards a common goal of treating animals with respect. Finding creative ways to work together to reduce the number of shelter animals by ensuring that communities are educated and equipped to care for their animals is one of my focusses,”
she says.
Heidi is a self-proclaimed nerd and fun-loving individual.
“I strive to create environments where people feel empowered to be their best selves. I believe in working hard, lifting each other up, and knowing that it’s okay not to have it all together – because there’s always the next moment to grow.”
TEARS website: www.tears.org.za
TEARS Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TEARSAnimalRescue/
TEARS Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/tearsanimalrescue/?hl=en.
ABOUT TEARS ANIMAL RESCUE:
TEARS is a pro-life, non-profit organisation established in 1999 (registered in terms of Section 18A of the Income Tax Act) whose core aim is to rescue, treat, rehabilitate, reunite, and rehome lost, abandoned, abused, and neglected companion animals and to educate pet owners and the youth living in the four under-resourced communities within which we operate.
We strive to meet the needs of the under-resourced communities in the Southern Peninsula by providing:
● free sterilisations and subsidised medical support that includes vaccinations, deworming, and parasite control
● access to two TEARS mobile clinics that offer primary healthcare and pet care support.
● Access to the TEARS Veterinary Clinic, offering veterinary care for vulnerable pets for almost any condition, illness, or injury at a welfare rate.
TEARS remains the only facility in the Cape Peninsula’s far South available seven days per week, including an after-hours mobile clinic service from 4.30pm to 7pm with limited veterinary care. TEARS treat the hundreds of animals who need treatment each month for various conditions, illnesses, and injuries.
Our experience enables us to manage the population control of companion animals in these areas, based on available funding, and to reduce the spread of zoonoses as a means of supporting community health and complying to the WHO’s One Health approach to the animal-human interface.
We are partnered with community-based NGOs and community leaders to support vulnerable pets and pet owners living in the four core communities we are mandated to serve. Our Programmes aim to bring about systemic change through strategic interventions based on community involvement and support. Implementing effective animal welfare solutions in high-density and low-income communities has been proven to positively impact human welfare by delivering health, environmental, economic, educational, and social benefits.
