Dogs wait to find forever homes at Melrose Arch this week #WoofProject

Dozens of friendly dogs are up for adoption on your doorstep this week only, at a pop-up adoption centre situated at the Melrose Arch Square near the Ocean Basket restaurant.

The Woof Project, which was started in Cape Town, has moved to Joburg for the week to assist Pretoria and Joburg-based animal shelters to find happy homes for their dogs.

Creator of the Woof Project Joanne Lefson came up with the idea after adopting her late dog Oscar at a shelter just a day before he was scheduled to be euthanised.

“We travelled the world together and he inspired me to help other dogs,” said Lefson.

“I realised that there are loads of amazing dogs sitting at shelters, but people don’t want to go to shelters. The adoption rates at these shelters are very low. So instead of encouraging people to visit shelters, we brought the dogs to the people in public-inspired places.”

“We have so far seen 1 000 dogs adopted within 64 weeks of doing this project in Cape Town and wanted to experiment in other cities… On Tuesday [14 August] we were able to see 13 dogs adopted, which is amazing for a weekday, and we expect to be even more popular on the weekend.”

All the animals at Melrose Arch have already been spayed/neutered, had their necessary vaccinations and are ready to go. Those interested in adopting a dog need to fill out a form and a home inspection will be completed on the same day so that dog lovers can bring their furry friends home within 24 hours.

Adopters can name their price and give a donation that will help the project maintain their running costs.

Lefson got creative and named the dogs at Melrose Arch after Joburg-based locations and famous people. She said she wanted to make this a global concept. “The sooner a dog is adopted, the better. Their life may depend on getting home that day.

“If you are looking for a dog, you will be able to find dogs of a variety of breeds and ages here and all of them are dog and kid friendly.”

The Woof Project runs from 10am to 6pm until 19 August.

Details: www.oscarsarg.org; director@oscarsarc.org

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https://rosebankkillarneygazette.co.za/178895/furry-friends-up-for-adoption-2/