Warm blankets for needy dogs this cold winter

Cold winters affect man’s best friend as much as humans, if not even more. While many blanket drives focus on the importance of caring for those less fortunate, every now and again people realise how important it is to do the same for pets in need.

Dis-Chem Pharmacies nationwide regularly implements charity drives to help all kinds of people and animals in need. Recently they ran a blanket drive with great success, asking their social media users to indicate which organisations deserved to receive a large donation of blankets. Across the country, many people commented and multiple non-profit organisations were chosen. One such organisation is Mama Kasi Rural Rescue.

Helga Tsoumbris from Mama Kasi, along with her helpers, has been working in many townships over the years, caring for dogs and instructing people in proper pet care.

“People don’t always know about de-worming, vaccinations or sterilisation. I had a woman come to me asking why her dog loses so much weight even though he eats a lot. We de-wormed him and he was perfectly fine afterwards,” Helga said.

She explained that there has been a large increase in the number of dogs in townships, with most of them to be found in the streets. To help get the population boom under control, Mama Kasi sterilises the dogs for free. They also provide all other necessary injections and medication.

“We send the dogs back to their homes with a bowl and blanket, but we ask the owners to make sure to feed them themselves. Once a dog has been in our care, it stays there. We continue to provide them with whatever they need. If a dog gets sick or hurt, we take it to Ruimsig Veterinary Clinic and care for it.”

After the public voted, Dis-Chem chose Mama Kasi as one of their recipients for the blanket donations, and gave them 200 blankets to help keep the dogs in their care warm.