Frequently asked questions

What does SPANA do?

SPANA is committed to improving standards of animal care in some of the world's poorest communities in Africa and the Middle East. We offer completely free veterinary care to working animals and our education programmes to teach owners and children, the future owners, how to better care for and respect their animals. SPANA also treats working animals in emergency and conflict situations around the world. SPANA offers an 'outreach' programme to provide funding for small local animal welfare organisations across the world.
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Where do you work?

SPANA works in Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Mali, Syria, Mauritania, Ethiopia and Algeria and provides treatment via a system of clinics and mobile units around the country. Our Outreach programme has funded operations in more than 25 countries and our emergency response teams have recently treated animals in Iraq, Kenya and the Sudan.
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How are you funded?

SPANA is almost entirely reliant on the kindness and generosity of individual supporters; people like you. Approx. 45% of SPANA's annual income is achieved via legacy gifts.
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How can I help?

You can support SPANA's commitment and help save the lives of working animals, and the people who rely on them, by donating to SPANA by direct debit, cheque, postal order or even cash. We really do believe that 'every little helps' no matter how big or small.

Regular gifts via direct debit help SPANA to plan for our future projects and ensure that no animal in need is turned away.

By leaving a legacy to SPANA you will leave a lasting impression and help make the world a better place for working animals and their owners. Please contact SPANA to find out more about how your lasting gift can make a real difference and request our legacy information leaflet to find out how easy it is to include a charitable gift in your will.

Please either donate online using the 'Donate Now' button or send your donation to:

SPANA
FREEPOST LON20570
LONDON
WC1N 2BR
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Why make a regular gift to SPANA?

One of the most valuable ways you can help SPANA is by making a regular gift. Regular gifts help us to plan for the future and ensure that money is available to fund long-term veterinary and education projects that really make a difference to the lives of working animals and their owners.

If you wish to set up a direct debit please go to the Donate now section of our website. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete the form and you could make a long-term difference to the lives of working animals abroad. You can also telephone or write to SPANA to request a direct debit form.
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I can't afford to donate, is there another way I can help?

YES. Why not become a SPANA volunteer?

By becoming a fundraising volunteer you can help raise vital funds to ensure that SPANA can continue to treat over 370,000 animals every year. Why not organise a sponsored event, street collection, car boot sale or any other event. There are hundreds of ways to raise funds and volunteering can be fun. You don't need to make a regular commitment. Please contact Anna Smith for more information or go to www.justgiving.com and set up your own sponsorship page. Don't forget to let us know your plans and to take plenty of photos as you may even be featured in the SPANA News.

Alternatively you can make a non-financial contribution to SPANA by helping us raise awareness of our work among fellow animal-lovers. This can be done by telling friends and family members what a wonderful job we are doing and by displaying promotional literature in local shops, practices and libraries.
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Can I volunteer abroad?

SPANA's volunteer vet scheme offers graduate vets the unique opportunity to spend up to three months working in one of our refuges in Morocco. If you wish to find out more about becoming a vet volunteer then please email your CV to enquiries@spana.org. Unfortunately we cannot offer overseas placements to non-veterinary volunteers.

If you would like to volunteer in our London office then please email enquiries@spana.org detailing your availability and work / volunteer experience. Thank you.
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Can I come and volunteer in one of your clinics?

Unfortunately due to local country regulations on volunteers, work permit and insurance concerns we can only accept qualified vets as volunteers.
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How do I know my money will be used in the right way?

You want your gift to be used to improve the lives of working animals and the people who rely on them...and so do we! At SPANA we work extremely hard to minimise our cost and we are very proud of our achievements.

Unlike many charities we send every penny directly to SPANA staff in the countries that we work. We do not send any funds via overseas governments and we can account for every penny spent.

Request a copy of our latest Annual Review to see where your money is spent.

In 2006 approx. 8% of our annual income was spent on administration costs and 18% on fundraising. The www.charityfacts.org site provides interesting information on why charities need to spend money on raising funds.
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Is SPANA a member of the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB)?

Yes, we are members of the Fundraising Standards Board self-regulatory scheme. The Fundraising Standards Board works to ensure that organisations raising money for charity from the public do so honestly and properly. As members of the scheme, we follow the Institute of Fundraising’s Codes of Fundraising Practice and comply with the key principles embodied in the Codes and in this Promise.

Click here to read the Fundraising Promise.

Click here to see our Fundraising Complaints Procedures.

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Do you do any campaigning work?

We are not a campaigning charity as we believe the most effective way to produce effective and long-lasting change is to change attitudes about animals and animal welfare in the countries we work. We cultivate a positive working-relationship with the governments and local agencies in the countries we work which is necessary to allow SPANA to work freely.

Our supporters have a role to play in communicating any distressing experiences in a host country directly to the government in question. Tourist income is crucial to many of the countries we work in and this is an effective way to push for change and to drive animal welfare legislation.
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The owners are simply cruel aren't they? Why treat an animal simply to return it for further abuse?

Most of the animals we treat are the victims of the poverty and ignorance of their owners rather than cruelty. The people we work with (and their families) often rely on their animals for survival and can be devastated if their horse or donkey is ill or injured and unable to work.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about how best to treat a suffering animal and in some cases home-grown treatments can result in an injury to their animal. Taking time to speak to owners about the causes of an illness or injury helps prevent future problems and our education programmes are designed to teach owners how to better care for their animals.

SPANA staff employed overseas are always local to the country we work in. This supports the local economy, provides training and jobs for local people and ensures we build strong links within the community. Our vets are well respected and these are the best people to encourage owners to change their attitudes and behaviour.
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Why do we give animals back to their owners who are often cruel after we have treated them?

Because the animals are vital to the livelihoods and welfare of people; there is rarely deliberate cruelty, more often neglect due to poverty and ignorance. SPANA works to educate and assist the people to look after their animals better so that suffering does not occur again.
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Can I send you bits of tack, bits, saddles etc for the horses and donkeys overseas?

We have a bit fund after a very successful bit appeal several years ago which allows us to provide good quality bits to exchange for poor ones overseas. Most English bits would not be of the correct size for the small animals we deal with and unless very simple would not be suitable for owners untrained in their use. Therefore we cannot generally accept bits. Similarly leather tack is not easy to maintain by poor people overseas and can end up causing more harm than good, so we prefer to make and maintain harnessing items locally. A further problem is that of shipping goods overseas where we often encounter considerable customs difficulties and costs, which outweigh the "donated " nature of the goods. However we are happy to receive small items such as hoof picks.
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Can I send you slightly out of date veterinary medicines for use overseas?

Although we know that many of these medicines will be effective, some will not be. We also spend considerable time training our staff in good veterinary practice, advising them to use good quality products, read labels etc; therefore it does not look good if we then supply them with out of date medicines. We are also dealing with very sick animals and need to be sure that we use the best medicines we can afford. We can however accept bandages, suture materials in which the sterility expiry date has passed, since we can re sterilise these.
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Why don't you educate people to look after their animals better?

SPANA has worked to educate both owners and school children since the day it was founded. Although the programme lapsed during the Second World War, it was restarted in 1986 and now works with the agreement of the Ministry of Education in all our countries of operation. Not only do we supply educational materials, we also encourage organise school visits to all our Veterinary Centres and, in some countries, we have an input into the National Curricula thus enabling us, in one way or another, to reach a large population of school children. Our overall aims are to develop positive attitudes and empathy skills towards animals in the minds of the next generation of animal owners.
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Am I eligible for Gift Aid?

As you probably know, Gift Aid is a fantastic scheme whereby the value of your gifts to SPANA can be increased at no extra cost to you. If you sign up to the Gift Aid scheme SPANA will receive at least 28p for every £1 you donate – making every gift worth almost a third more!

You could be eligible for Gift Aid if you pay income tax (e.g. on a salary or pension) or capital gains tax (e.g. received through the sale of property or interest on savings) in the UK. Even if you only pay tax at the lower rate you could still be eligible. For more information please email enquiries@spana.org or call 020 7831 3999.

You only need to make a declaration once and SPANA can then claim Gift Aid on all your future donations as well as any gifts given to SPANA over the previous six years.

To download a Gift Aid form and help us to save even more working animals please click here.
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How can SPANA benefit from me being a higher rate taxpayer?

If you are a higher rate tax payer you can make your donations to SPANA worth over 50% more! All you need to do is reclaim the difference between the basic rate of tax (which SPANA claims back on your behalf via the Gift Aid scheme) and the higher rate of tax, on all your charitable donations.

So if you donate £100 to SPANA over the duration of a year, SPANA can claim £28 on your behalf and you can claim a further £23 via your annual Self Assessment tax return. If you were to donate this additional rebate to SPANA, you could turn your original gift of £100 into £151!

If you would like to donate this payment to SPANA, all you have to do is record your charitable donations for the relevant tax year on your Self Assessment form and quote SPANA’s charity code: QAK52MG. For more information please email enquiries@spana.org or call 020 7831 3999.
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