With a stellar artist line-up book-ending a cracker Springbok test match, the Woofstock Music Festival brought down the house on Saturday August 31.
The Dancing Place was packed with fans eager to get loud with artists such as Pieter Marcato, Sunset Sweatshop, White River’s own Debbie K, Martin Bester and Band, Loufi, and South African rock legends, Fokofpolisiekar. This all in aid of the K9 Project Watchdog and Graskop Animals in Need (GAIN).
The K9 Project Watchdog is a national project that manages all canine-related honorary ranger activity in our country’s national parks.
Well-trained dogs and their handlers are capable of tracking poachers in the field and detect firearms, ammunition and wildlife products over various distances, and are therefore powerful weapons against wildlife crimes.
With poaching in our national parks continuing to pose a major conservation challenge, the K9 Anti-poaching Unit is considered a game changer that has seen poaching numbers plummet wherever implemented. This according to K9 Project Watchdog management vice chairperson Lizel Oosthuizen.
“One semitrained dog can cost between R80 000 and R100 000. Then it still needs to be trained further in the Kruger National Park,” Oosthuizen added, explaining the value of fundraising events such as the Woofstock Music Festival to the K9 project.
GAIN founder Carla Gibson explained how her organisation relied on donations to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome not only pets, but also at times farm and wild animals.
At the festival, Gibson said they had 52 animals in their care in addition to running an animal feeding programme in the township area outside Graskop.
> Photos: Jacqueline Herbst
Adding to the event’s hype was chance to win a 2024 edition Fender Squier Affinity HSS Stratocaster, signed by all the Woofstock artists. Lady luck smiled on Sophia Rust, as she was the lucky winner of this epic guitar in the raffle draw.
