Adopt a dog at Melrose Arch
The Woof Project aims to break stereotypes that shelter dogs are ill adjusted and make bad pets, by inviting prospective owners to interact with the dogs at the mobile adoption centre.
Director and creator of Oscar’s Arc and the Woof Project Joanne Lefson with some of the puppies available for adoption yesterday at Melrose Arch. The Woof Project is a pop-up mobile dog adoption initiative that brings shelter dogs into public spaces. Picture: Michel Bega
Melrose Arch Square has gone barking mad as Cape Town-based charity the Woof Project has taken over with their pop-up mobile dog adoption centre.
Woof One is a shipping container housing the adoption centre where visitors can interact with dogs selected from shelters in Johannesburg. Project director Joanne Lefson created the concept after her life-changing experience of adopting a shelter dog named Oscar.
“For every 11 dogs that go into a shelter, only one gets homed,” says Lefson. “On Tuesday alone we found homes for 13 dogs. Since we started the project 64 weeks ago, we have homed almost 1 000 dogs. At the V&A Waterfront we once managed to home 36 dogs in a week.”
All the dogs are preselected by Lefson and her team. “They need to be able to get on with the other dogs at the centre and be comfortable with being handled by people, and sometimes by very boisterous kids.”
“There is a misconception that shelter dogs are bad, so we want to show that there are lovely dogs available at shelters.”
The process of adopting a dog is simple. Prospective owners choose their dog and fill out the necessary paperwork, go through a home inspection within 24 hours and, if approved, can shortly afterwards collect their dog. The dogs have all been neutered and had their shots.
The Woof Project is at Melrose Arch Square until Sunday.
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