Charities

We think it’s important to help other organisations and charities care for animals, locally and around the world. Currently we are supporting two hugely worthwhile charities in South Africa:

The White Rhino Conservation Project

White Rhinos continue to be poached for their horns, which can sell for more money per ounce than gold.

In parts of Asia, rhino horn is believed to boast medicinal properties that can alleviate ailments ranging from mere hangovers to cancer. The horns are made of keratin, a protein similar to what makes up hair and fingernails, without any scientifically proven benefits. Wealthy individuals have been buying whole rhino horns to indicate their status. And such people have been buying more and more.

In 2006, one rhino horn typically sold for about $760. In 2014, the same horn can fetch more than $57,000. Worldwide, the trade is now worth as much as $9.5 billion annually, according to a report from Dalberg, a development consultancy firm based in Washington, D.C.

Donations are constantly required to fund and sustain anti-poaching rhino units in order to prevent these magnificent creatures being killed for nothing more than a status symbol or an ineffectual medicine. Although various conservation projects have greatly helped the Southern white rhino numbers, there are less than FOUR Northern white rhinos left in the wild.

The Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha

Highly respected and supported by the community, Mdzananda Animal Clinic based near to Cape Town in Khayelitsha, was founded in 1996 in response to the need to provide primary veterinary healthcare services to a fast growing community that had no access to help for their animals.

Initially it worked from a single donated shipping container and with no running water or electricity. Today, thanks to the support of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and others, the project runs from six recycled shipping containers on its own land and is fully serviced.

Mdzananda’s services include free sterilisations, and low cost or free treatments such as dipping, deworming and vaccination of dogs and cats. Its services are provided five-and-half-days a week, and an emergency service operates after hours and on Sundays. Mobile outreach clinics are held on weekday afternoons.

The Mdzananda Animal Clinic brings services otherwise unavailable to the cats & dogs of nearly 1 million of some of the less privileged people on the planet, funded entirely through charitable donations.