Many came to enjoy a Saturday in the sun at Walkhaven Dog Park with their furry friends in support of The Dog Trust South Africa. There was also a market where people could buy an array of products, from cheese to beauty products.
Ashleigh Enslin from Walkhaven explained this particular event, on August 19, was aimed at raising funds for the trust, an NPO that helps rehabilitate rescue dogs. She continued to say the park aims to host a market every month to support a different charity.
“We’ve had a fabulous turnout. We are very busy today and it’s nice to see because all the stallholders are doing well too.”
Lee Ramalho from the trust stated their motto is ‘provide, protect, educate’. They aim to educate people on how to properly care for their animals and then provide the means for them to do so, instead of taking the dogs away. She added they would rather let people keep their animals as the kennels are so full. She noted they do have a kennel in Hennops where they take in dogs that have been abused, neglected, or surrendered, however, their main focus is sterilisations.
She said many use their animals for breeding and then sell the puppies. This is why they then go into the informal settlements and educate the people. As soon as a person then allows them to sterilise their dog they would take it upon themselves to provide for that dog.
“We feed about a ton of food a month, between the shelter and the township. We’ve just started in a new township in Pretoria. So all of our funding goes towards medical costs, food, sterilisations, and looking after the dogs in our shelter,” said Ramalho.
She concluded the turnout was awesome and they are very grateful to Walkhaven for the event.
