We built up our facilities from almost nothing after we managed to obtain a large property - unfortunately it had no appropriate buildings.

There was a long wooden shed, which we converted to a dog and cat overnight area, lining and insulating the walls and ceiling, connecting it to water and electricity and bringing in two banks of fibreglass cages.

After looking at a variety of options we bought buildings from Kwikspace to use as the clinic and the office. The clinic floor was covered with linoleum for ease of cleaning - the walls were already easy to keep clean.

The clinic is divided in to two rooms, one for examining and anaesthetising the patients and the other for surgical procedures only - the operating theatre.

We have also built a large garage, which was divided in to two sections: one side has ten walk-in kennels giving an excellent overnight facility for our larger canine patients. We then moved one bank of cages from the original overnight area for small dogs and puppies. We now overnight cats only in the original area so they are not disturbed by any dogs. The other side of the garage is used for storage - we store donated bric-a-brac and books that we eventually sell to raise funds and blankets, towels and newspapers that we use in the kennels. We also have a few cat traps that we need when we have to assist with catching feral cats. When we manage to get pet food donated, the surplus is stored in rodent-proof bins in the garage.

Our facilities have been given approval by the Municipality and are registered as a Veterinary Clinical Facility with the South African Veterinary Council.

The Mervin Herr X-ray wing was completed early in 2008:
Whilst we focus on sterilisation and other primary health care (especially de-worming and treatment for other parasitic diseases, such as mange and flea infestations), we would like to be able to assist with other cases of injury and disease. Motor vehicle accidents are common in some of the areas in which we work and broken bones are not infrequent. X-rays are an essential diagnostic tool to allow us to manage these cases properly and, thanks to the generous donations of a number of people, we now have an X-ray facility.