A rehabilitative walk for abused dogs
The centre was started eight years ago by Van Zyl and her friends.
A dog walk held near Thaba Tshwane (previously Voortrekkerhoogte) in Centurion on Sunday raised thousands of rands for the care of abused dogs.
The event, which attracted dozens of people, raised over R30 000 for Pretoria Dog Rescue, a local dog haven.
It was also aimed at making the dogs aware of the environment, said Celia van Zyl, one of the organisation’s founders.
“Dogs need to be given the same love and respect that we deserve,” she told Rekord.
Van Zyl organised the event along with Ina Schutte and Reinette le Roux.
“Most of the dogs we take in are stray dogs – some have been abused by their previous owners,” she said.
“So through this walk dogs get to familiarise themselves with outside areas and people.”
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She said it was important for the dogs to engage with the public.
“We train them to know and understand people better, so when they get adopted it becomes an easy transition.”
The centre was started eight years ago by Van Zyl and her friends.
“We saw how vulnerable they were and could not let anything happen to them. We had to give them a home and hope.”
She said although the fundraiser event was a success, the centre needs more help.
“There is a lot that we are lacking and we cannot continue to carry out our work as expected because we need funds, donations and more man-power.”
Currently the centre houses 50 dogs, which require more than 25kg of dog food each day.
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Van Zyl said part of the work that volunteers do at the centre is to deworm the animals.
The dogs also get sterilised, vaccinated and rehabilitated.
“We nurse them back to life as some come in a very bad state.”
The centre relies heavily on donations.
“We are in need of monthly sponsorship for kennels, monetary donations for the upkeep and paying of bills, including vet bills. To run the centre requires lots of money which we must raise ourselves.”
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