It's already started...

Still a month to go before the official Festive Season and it has already started... In just two days 11 dogs were abandoned.

A couple of young boys from the community ran three kilometers to Mdzananda. They had seen a mommy dog give birth to puppies in a field, alone, with no human owners. We raced out to help her and her five pups. They were admitted to our hospital and stray programme. The same day, an hour later, a young boy brought a heavily pregnant mommy dog to us – she was left by his house by people who were renting next door. The very same day our General Manager found a sweet little dog dumped outside our yard. And… as if that isn’t enough… three dogs were handed over to us the next day, their owners no longer wanting them. It’s barely the Festive Season but it’s already started - the influx of abandoned pets. Christmas is the hardest time for us at Mdzananda. As many of you know, we are an NPO veterinary clinic and not specifically a shelter. We have a small shelter programme which can cater for 15 dogs and 15 cats. Right now we have 28 cats in our small facility and 28 in foster care – we’re already over capacity. From now until January, community members go to the Eastern Cape. Not having solutions for their pets those pets are abandoned, handed over to us or even thrown over our walls at night. “Rather with us than in the streets”, we say, but since we do not have capacity to be a large shelter it places extreme pressure on our staff, space and resources. We need your help to cope with the influx in the upcoming months. It’s only at the end of January that the number of abandoned pets start decreasing. Please consider making a donation towards us during this difficult time. It costs us R1530 to keep a stray pet for two months. This is just to cover their sterilisation, vaccinations, dewormers, flea and tick treatment and food and excludes all other costs such as staff, electricity, water etc. Some pets find homes within two months - many have stayed much much longer. Poor Tandjies has been with us since December 2018 – nearly a year! With your support and your donation we will have a better chance at getting through the very difficult months ahead of us. Please make a donation and, if you have some open space, get in touch to become a foster or forever parent. With gratitude from Susan Wishart (General Manager), Marcelle du Plessis (Fundraising and Communications Manager) and all the dogs and cats at Mdzananda