KAWS plea for help as winter approaches
Knysna Animal Welfare Society (Kaws) has sent out yet another plea for assistance to aid them with their rubber kennels project that aims to assist responsible underprivileged animal owners.
Kaws was established all the way back in 1967 and started out covering a vast area of the Southern Cape. As towns such as Plettenberg Bay grew and established their own animal welfare organisations, Kaws’ focus returned primarily to Knysna and its immediate surroundings.
One of its biggest projects and perhaps the one that has made the biggest difference in underprivileged communities is the rubber kennels project.
This project runs in accordance with Kaws’ erecting offences as well as the sterilisation of animals. Since 2016, Kaws has delivered more than 370 kennels, erected at least 20 fences, and sterilised more than 2 500 animals in the Greater Knysna area, which stretches all the way from Hoekville in the west to Harkerville in the east.
However, this kind of assistance to the several communities doesn’t come easily and heading into the harsh winter months the organisation is in dire need of financial assistance as they look to distribute kennels once again. “A dog is just like a person in the sense that it too gets cold in winter, and simply tying the dog up on a chain without a kennel is not healthy for the dog,” said Kaws public relations officer Retha Havenga.
This is why society is trying to gain funding for new rubber kennels, which are very good insulators of heat. Once Kaws gets the funding for the kennels it orders the kennels and then begins to go through possible candidates for receiving a kennel.
“We have to make sure the recipients of the kennels are responsible owners,” Havenga said. “We don’t just give away a kennel to anyone – we have a checklist that the recipient must qualify for.”
Once someone receives a kennel it doesn’t mean they have it forever, though. “If the recipient doesn’t continue to comply with the rules then we confiscate the kennel,” Havenga explained. Kaws also sterilises the recipient’s animals when they hand over the kennel.
Would you like to help?
At present, a kennel donation costs R400 while a sterilisation donation is R350. If you’d like to assist, contact Kaws on 044 384 1603 for more information.
Kaws manager Annelien Kitley shows Mocha some love.
Sticking her head through the gate at Kaws.
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Source: Knysna Plett Herald News