Glenn Hlongwane spent as much time as his parents would allow playing with animals on his grandfather’s farm in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Ever since I can remember, I have loved animals, but I was never allowed to have a pet. My mother’s reasoning was that I would be too sad if the pet was stolen or got ill and died. I’m not sure if that was actually the truth.”
Hlongwane went to primary school in Hillcrest, KZN, and then the family relocated to East London where he matriculated from St Anne’s College and then attended East London Science College.
His first job was in the fitness industry at Hercules Boot Camp, East London.
He continued his education at Damelin, where he studied IT. However his desire to work with animals got in the way of his technical education.
“I came across an advert for a sales assistant at SA Vets Shop in East London. I immediately thought the job would entail working with pets. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was mainly a pet food salesperson, with quite a lot of toys thrown into the mix.
“But I did sell to people who loved their pets, so that was a consolation. I must have done well at selling because I was offered a job with SA Vets Shop in Pretoria. Leaving East London was tough but the job had higher pay and more responsibility, so I accepted it. There was a promise that I would move into management,” Hlongwane said.
The position involved a lot of contact with pets but not the sort that Hlongwane treasured.
“Don’t get me wrong. Pretoria people love their pets, but many of the pets are cold-blooded: snakes, lizards, spiders, tortoises, scorpions and such. I kept at it for a while, but eventually all the reptiles were getting to me.
“They wore me down, so for my own sanity I had to come back to East London and was fortunate to get a job at Wild Coast Vets Stirling, as a sales assistant,” he said.
Jessica Malan, manager of WCV said: “Glenn came in for an interview. He has a great personality for selling. He is always positive, nothing is too much trouble and the WCV’s retail customers love him. He is a pleasure to work with.”
Hlongwane’s next career move will be studying to become a veterinary nurse through Unisa.
“I will study part time so that I can keep my job, which I love. But I am looking forward to making a real difference in caring for animals,” he said.
A recent survey by the SA pet industry revealed that pets in SA households number 3,9m dogs, a million cats, a million birds, 200,000 others, and 100,000 pet horses. Vet service costs to care for the animals is over R7bn a year.
While the country was hamstrung by the Covid-19 pandemic, pets sailed through it.
Pet owners found solace in caring for their animals. In years 2022 and 2023, once the pandemic waned the total pet spend grew by 1%.
Only 4% to 12% of people in the country have a negative attitude towards pets.
DispatchLIVE
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