It is demanding, emotionally taxing work that rarely makes headlines. Yet it is essential to protecting some of the country’s most vulnerable living beings.

A career spent protecting the vulnerable

Senior Inspector Arno de Klerk, Manager of the NSPCA’s Special Projects Unit, has spent more than a decade investigating serious animal welfare offences. His team tackles everything from organised cruelty and illegal animal racing to online animal abuse and offences involving wildlife and livestock. At any given time, they are managing dozens of criminal cases while travelling across all nine provinces to investigate reports and gather evidence.

For De Klerk, the work is driven by one simple belief: animals deserve someone willing to stand up for them when they can’t do so themselves.

Closing the NSPCA funding gap

Despite the scale and complexity of this work, one of the biggest misconceptions remains that the NSPCA receives government funding.

It does not.

Like SPCAs across South Africa, the NSPCA relies on donations, partnerships and fundraising initiatives to keep inspectors on the road, support investigations, and ensure that cruelty cases can be pursued through the courts. Without that support, fewer investigations can take place, fewer animals can be rescued, and fewer offenders can be held accountable.

The challenge is compounded by the fact that animal welfare receives only a fraction of South Africa’s corporate social investment funding. According to the NSPCA, available data suggests that less than 2% of CSI spend is directed towards animal welfare, leaving organisations to stretch limited resources across an enormous national mandate.

That reality makes partnerships with businesses and communities more important than ever.

An investment in compassion

After a decade-long hiatus, the NSPCA’s Charity Golf Day is returning, taking place on 20 August 2026 at Benoni Country Club. This event brings together businesses, supporters, and animal lovers with a shared purpose: raising funds that directly support the organisation’s life-saving work.

As the main sponsor of the event, Dotsure has helped ensure that more of the proceeds raised can go where they are needed most.

Corporate donors can’t solve every challenge facing the animal welfare sector, but they demonstrate what becomes possible when organisations choose to invest in causes that are often overlooked.

The NSPCA’s work extends far beyond responding to emergencies. It is about strengthening the systems that protect animals, pursuing justice through the courts, and preventing cruelty before it becomes widespread. Those responsibilities benefit society as a whole, yet they remain heavily dependent on public support.

Whether through attending a fundraising event, sponsoring a fourball, making a donation, or simply helping raise awareness, every contribution helps ensure inspectors like Arno de Klerk and his team can continue their work.

Animal welfare is often described as giving a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves. Equally important is ensuring that those already fighting for them have the resources to continue doing so.

Dotsure Limited (Registration number 2006/000723/06) is a licensed non-life insurer and authorised financial services provider (FSP39925). Voted South Africa’s Best Pet Insurance 2023-2025 by readers of The Star, Die Burger, Beeld, and City Press.