Paws R Us is a non-profit organisation which was established in 2011 and focuses on the rescue, rehabilitation and adoption of abandoned dogs.
Founder Chantelle Murray said, “A lot of our funding comes from the public’s support. Many of the corporate sponsorships go to much-needed human causes. None of these companies really think about animal welfare.”
She said their challenge was to gain corporate sponsors.
“The whole thinking behind the event is that corporate sponsors are quite sceptical about animal welfare or they don’t know where their money’s going, so what we thought we could do is come to the corporate environment rather than wait for them to come to us,” said Murray.
With support from Vodacom, Zoetis and the U21 Lion Rugby team who attended the event, they gave staff in the office environment the opportunity to take a break and play and walk with the lovable hounds looking for a home.
“The human walking event is a concept where rescue dogs are able to take the human out of their cages, which is the corporate office, that they are in day after day, and take them for a walk. The event gives them an opportunity to play, feed and socialise with the dogs no matter what breed or state they are in,” said Murray.
“Not only do they get to walk with the dogs, but our volunteers educate them on a variety of issues such as dog fights and over-population in kennels. So there’s a great educational aspect to this event.”
