The Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha is calling on the public to adopt or foster a pet during the festive season.
The clinic says that abandoned dogs have been recently
pouring through its doors.
The clinic is an NPO veterinary clinic and not
specifically a shelter. They have a very small shelter programme which can
cater for 15 dogs. Currently they have 24 dogs and 10 puppies at the shelter
along with many more dogs in foster care.
“The Festive Season is happy for most but for
us it is the hardest time of the year. We’re already over capacity and we’ve
had to start showing people away,” says Marcelle du Plessis, Fundraising and
Communications Manager of Mdzananda Animal Clinic.
The clinic reports that between November to
February community members go to the Eastern Cape. Not having solutions for
their pets those pets are abandoned at the clinic.
“Some have even been thrown over our walls at
night. Rather with us than in the streets but since we do not have capacity to
be a large shelter, it places extreme pressure on our staff, space and
resources,” says du Plessis.
Kim, a black, medium sized cross breed, was
skin and bones and very scared when she arrived at the clinic. Today she is the
pack leader but no one has come to adopt her.
“Sadly, black-furred dogs are slow to be
adopted,” says du Plessis.
Heidi May, the General Manager at Mdzananda
says that the dogs at their shelter are mostly not what people find attractive.
“There are many Afrikanis, brown, short haired
dogs but not the cute and fluffy small breeds that get homes quickly. Just last
week we had a rare case of a Boston Terrier puppy up for adoption. Within a few
hours we had hundreds of phone calls, emails and social media messages of
people wanting to adopt this puppy because of his breed. We wish we had that
type of response for our other dogs as so many sit in our shelter with no
homes,” says May.
It costs the clinic around R1 500 to care for
an abandoned pet in its first month with them. This is just to cover their
sterilisation, vaccinations, dewormers, flea and tick treatment and food and
excludes all other costs such as staff, electricity and water.
The animal clinic is calling on the public to adopt or foster during this time. They are also asking for financial support.
If you are able to help, please make a donation
to Mdzananda Animal Clinic, Standard Bank, Account number: 075595710, Branch:
Rondebosch, Branch Code: 025009, Savings account, Reference: pets +Your Name.
To get in touch with Mdzananda please contact info@mdzananda.co.za or visit www.mdzananda.co.za
Done By: Mitchum George
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