VIDEO: A doggy day for Mandela

There were tails wagging, sloppy kisses given, money donated and food stockpiled on 13 July as dogs in need received some special attention in honour of Nelson Mandela Day.
A special fundraising event was hosted by the Pet Empowerment in the Township (Pets) Joburg in partnership with A New Hope Dog Rescue at the Happy Tails Doggy Daycare Bryanston premises in honour of Nelson Mandela Day, which takes place annually on 18 July.

The entrance fee for the day was a bag of cat or dog food for the shelters, and attendees got to spend time with the shelter’s dogs, paint an animal-inspired wall mural, make dog toys to donate to both shelters, paint cat boxes, visit the doggy kissing booth, and buy food and other goodies from stalls set up on the day.

“There are about 20 dogs here in total today,” said Nicole Badenhorst of Pets Joburg. “These are not all the dogs that we have up for adoption but all the dogs here are available to adopt. Pets Joburg currently cares for about 40 dogs and about 20 cats.”

This year was the fourth year in a row that Pets has held this event for the public to help their animals in ways that they usually cannot do.

“We work with animals from informal settlements in and around Orange Farm. We don’t have a shelter, but rather go into the townships to help animals who need to be sterilised, rehomed or treated for sickness. We have a number of foster homes for the animals until they find their forever homes.

“We can’t bring people into the townships with us, and they can’t sweep a shelter for us like with other organisations, so today is really a chance for people to make a difference in ways they can as the work we do is hard. Today is an opportunity for people to meet our dogs, fall in love with them and talk to the volunteers behind Pets.”

Also present on the day were two special guests, Itumeleng Kantsashe and Katleho Tsotetsi, both 13 years old who live in the Orange Farm area and have become helping hands to Pets volunteers who visit the informal settlements.

“The boys are amazing,” Badenhorst said. “They help us in the community, telling us which animals need to be sterilised. We invited them today so they could have some fun.”

Going forward, the public can also help Pets Joburg by donating money, food, blankets and animal care products such as tick and flea treatments.

People are also welcome to support A New Hope Dog Rescue which does have shelter grounds and is located in the south of the city.

“The event has been fantastic, I’ve been really happy with the turnout,” said Olivia Stirling who owns A New Hope Dog Rescue.

“Our organisation cares for about 160 dogs and was started about three years ago. Rescue work is expensive and often heartbreaking but days like today make all the pain worth it.”

The food and funds collected at the event would be split between the two organisations.

Details: www.petsjhb.org.za; jhb@pets.org.za; www.anewhopedogrescue.com; A New Hope Dog Rescue Facebook page; stirling.liv@gmail.com; 081 893 4427.