New Wheels
We are very pleased to announce that the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust (UK) has purchased a new Toyota Hilux bakkie for our use – very many thanks to them. This will greatly assist us with our ‘door-to-door’ campaigns where we travel around our poorer communities finding unsterilised pets and animals in need of our help. The bakkie is bigger than the old one we have been using and so will enable us to transport more animals to our clinical facility. Thanks also to Market Toyota Claremont for their assistance. And thank you to Keringa / Petwings who have generously donated carrying boxes so we can transport all the patients in comfort and safety.

We are now registered as a Public Benefit Organisation.
This means that any donations made to us can be offset against tax. So thanks again to our regular donors. What we really need is for five hundred people to each give us R20 a month – or one hundred people to each give us R100 a month – or any combination that will get us a regular amount each month so we know we can keep working! If you can help with this, please set up a stop order with your bank or give us a call or contact us through the website. Unfortunately we cannot arrange debit order payments at this stage as it is very expensive to set the system up. But ask you friends and your boss to help as well.

FUNDRAISING NEWS: "Cancer Patient Runs for Welfare"
A huge thank you to everyone who sponsored me for my run in the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon.
I am very happy to announce that my run in the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon was well worth the effort. We raised, including a couple of late donations, R33,000, a fantastic amount. Many thanks to those who gave financial support, and also to those who supported me on the road on the day and from 'behind the scenes'. Special thanks to everyone at the Fish Hoek Athletics Club for their tremendous support. Getting funding is a continual battle but I am back to full fitness and sterilising hard to prevent those unwanted, uncared for animals from being born. THANK YOU.
Dr Yvonne Robson

BRIC-A-BRAC
We are now selling bric-a-brac and second hand books regularly and will gratefully receive items which we can sell. If you can help please contact us.

School Report
We have visited a couple of schools recently where the children, from fairly well-off backgrounds, think it is good for their dog to have puppies or their cat to have kittens – so they can see how the animal behaves and so that they themselves can follow their pet’s progress and the progress of the offspring. We ask if it is for the pets’ benefit or for their own selfish purpose. We explain that hundreds of dogs and cats are put to sleep each week in South Africa because there are not enough good homes for them all. Therefore, we tell them, it is much better to get their pet sterilised so that they do not contribute to the excessive number of puppies and kittens needing good homes. Do the children understand? We are not sure that they do. So we appeal to all of the parents to make sure that your pet dogs and cats are sterilised BEFORE they have a litter. Be responsible. Your pet’s personality will not change if it is sterilised. We don’t enjoy seeing the half-starved, parasite- ridden animals that we have to deal with – many in a poor state simply because of ignorance and poverty. Please don’t contribute to the population of unasked for puppies and kittens. By allowing your pet to breed and homing the offspring yourselves you may be depriving other, less fortunate, animals of homes – the ones that roam the streets or get stuck in rescue shelters… save lives – sterilise.
We are also keen to pursue education of adults and, apart from our ‘door-to-door’ policy in the communities, the Doc recently visited Pollsmoor Prison, accompanying Karen Gray-Kilfoil and her team from ‘Animals for Fun’. Karen runs a regular program there, working with a small group of prisoners, teaching them about correct care and handling of dogs. Apart from handling the animals, the inmates learn to appreciate the importance of regular health checks, de-worming and general care as a result of this programme.

Feral Cat Report:
Margaret visits a local caravan park every day, rain or shine. When she arrives the cats arrive, ready to be fed. They appear and follow her car in a line to their various feeding stations, over 20 of them. And she knows them all, any new arrivals she brings swiftly to us to check if they have been sterilised. They will come to her but most of them keep away from other people. Some she can pick up herself, some have to be trapped for their check up. They are all special, all have their little feeding routine which Margaret willingly obliges to. Whichever way, the colony has been prevented from getting 'out of control'. There are a number of people who monitor feral cat colonies like this, much better than trying to annihilate them all. It has been shown that feral colonies serve an important role in rodent control. Furthermore they can be successfully supported and controlled with minimum effort from human neighbours.

FOCUS ON……Barrington Chigudu
Meet Barrington Chigudu, our happy, helpful part-time recruit from Masiphumelele, who started working with us on April 2nd! (see pic on front page). Thanks to your kind donations & collections, we are in the position to employ 31 year old Barrington. Zimbabwe-born Barrington emigrated, with his family, to Durban 17years ago, where he completed his schooling, before coming to Cape Town 13years ago. He can speak fluently in Xhosa, Zulu, English and Shona, plus is now learning Afrikaans! Father of two sons, Barrington is proving to be a great asset to SASHA by being very versatile. His duties include driving around the local areas, accompanied by one of our volunteers or the Doctor, looking for dogs and cats that are in need of sterilisation and/or are in a poor condition. He then has to get the owner’s permission to take the animal(s) to SASHA for treatment – and sterilisation! - a small fee is requested to emphasise that the pet has a value. He says that, after only 8 weeks, people are recognising him and approaching him for advice/details on how to get their animals treated! Fantastic! This is part of what SASHA is aiming for….education! Barrington is also learning how to be of assistance to our vet, in the operating theatre as well as assisting with after care for the animals, plus cleaning and mending the kennels and cattery, as needed. His versatility further stretches to include gardening.... we now have much improved premises thanks to his endeavours! He says he is enjoying his work although there is an incredible amount to learn, but he loves the variety that the job provides. Welcome Barrington! We hope that we have a long and happy association with you! If you would be prepared to sponsor Barrington’s training/wages so that we can increase his hours of work, please ring SASHA on 021 785 4748.
Hazel.

WEBSITE
We should have our website up and running soon – thanks to Sean for all his hard work. If anyone can spare a few hours to sort through photos for the photo gallery please contact us.

Doc’s report: early sterilisation
I am going to repeat an article which I wrote for a welfare organisation previously, as I think benefits of early sterilisation are not appreciated by many. Also, a couple of recent trips to local schools made me aware that many people still wish to breed from their pets, and do not really think through the consequences of this unneccessary breeding. I remind you all once again that there is a serious pet overpopulation problem in South Africa, and I don’t believe any of us working in welfare want to euthanase healthy animals, but it happens - and it could be prevented. Before I became involved with welfare work, I conformed to the traditional view of sterilising dogs and cats from about 6 months of age. However, when I started working in Masiphumelele it soon became apparent that puppies and kittens were given away at a very early age to anybody and everybody. So, while we could usually keep track of the mother and sterilise her at an appropriate time, the offspring were ‘lost without trace’ to continue the breeding cycle and compound the overpopulation problems. I am always willing to continue learning, so I investigated early sterilisation as I knew that it has been done overseas for many years. Sterilisation can be done as early as six weeks of age, and there has been much research done to ensure that this is not detrimental to the animal. Indeed, it can have a number of benefits. For example, bitches sterilised before their first season have a much lower incidence of breast cancer, and male dogs and cats neutered early are less likely to become ‘territory markers’. I decided to start sterilising youngsters and, on the whole, the surgery is easier in these patients. The anaesthetic may be a little trickier and it is essential to ensure the correct pre- and post-operative care – especially as many of our patients come into the clinic with heavy parasite burdens which can be debilitating. However, nearly all of the kittens and puppies recover very quickly. In most cases, by the evening, a casual observer would not realise that the animal had undergone surgery earlier that day. I have found that most owners are prepared to keep any puppies and kittens born in their household until they are six weeks old and allow us to sterilise them before passing them on. If the owner is doubtful, we try and persuade them that it is not healthy for the pups and kittens to leave their mothers before this age – indeed, weaning them a bit later would generally be better for the youngsters. The decision to sterilise early has been a good one. STERILISE – SAVE LIVES
Dr Yvonne Robson

The rural life:
KAPS … A trip to the countryside – sounded just what the doctor ordered. Brenda was a bit concerned about the Karoo temperatures, but the forecast was for ‘not too hot’. So off we went in March, to Barrydale, where the Karoo Animal Protection Society has its main base. When I say ‘main base’, I mean Colette’s farm, where she stays with her many dogs, cats, donkeys and pigs, not forgetting Alfie, the bullock. We left Sunnydale early so we got there well before lunch – time to sterilise the first few cats that were waiting for us. Swiftly followed by a few canine patients. Colette has been helping the animals in the Karoo for a few years now, and I had been there before. Alfie gave me a careful inspection when he saw me… last time I saw him he was a youngster on the ops list but he didn’t seem to hold it against me and he is a contented young bullock now, wandering around the area of farmland near the main house. We over-nighted in the cottage and the following day we sterilised some more dogs and cats. We had a few new spectators who wanted to check things out: the local donkey population came to have a look at the admissions room. But they soon lost interest – no donkey food to be found here so they wandered off to greener pastures. We made swift progress through the ops so I walked up to the house, checking out a sorry looking Boerbul that had been rescued a few days earlier. She was shockingly thin and unwell but Colette was determined to help her over her neglect. Hopefully the previous owner will be successfully prosecuted. I also said hello to Gromit, the pig that I also gave the snip to last time I was here. He had been causing aggro with all and sundry but appeared quite contented with his lot in life now. A successful trip, we left for home the next morning – I managed not to collect any more animals whilst I was there - I just brought a few flea bites back with me. Yvonne

…and OPS
Well, 7am Wednesday 18th April saw us on the road again; this time we were heading for Villiersdorp. There was an extra member of the team this time. Barrington, who joined SASHA this month, accompanied Yvonne and I. We had an uneventful journey to Villiersdorp and arrived at the Community Hall in Goniwe Park at 8.30 am. Jenny and her team greeted us and there were quite a few patients anxiously awaiting our arrival. The community hall was quite large so we set up shop in one corner. We were unloaded and working by 9am. There was a bakkie with 9 x lab puppies all jumping about, so we vaccinated and dewormed them and sent them on their way. We’ll get them at the next visit!!!! The cats were first, 9 I think, for sterilising and 3 just for vaccinations. It was quite an experience having 9 cats, uncontained, on the floor. When a whisker twitched Jenny and helpers really came into their own as they sat with them until they had come round. They were then vaccinated and dewormed and placed in baskets. Vaccinations, including rabies, and de-worming carried on as the dogs were brought in for operation. The first patient was a very small Chihuahua called Ratty; she had been rescued by Jenny, from the mountain. All went well and then we moved on to the bigger dogs. We were fed continuously with coffee and local apples. The day went like clockwork and during the afternoon, after school was out, we had an influx of children very keen to see what was going on. The total number of animals attended to that day was about 40, but I am very glad to say we only had one dog to euthanase. 4pm saw us packing up and back on the road heading for the Deep South. We got as far as Baden Powell Drive when we heard a news flash; the road in front of us to Muizenberg Circle was awash because of the Spring Tide!!! We got to the Circle and the tide had receded so our only obstacles were with the associated sand and assorted seaweed. Our thanks to Jenny and her team and also to the MARCHIG ANIMAL WELFARE TRUST who sponsored the day. Brenda

SASHA’S FIRST YEAR
Hard to believe that a year has gone by since we drew up our founding document! After a slow start with our sterilising programme because of the Doc’s disruptive treatment schedule, we are back on track. Over 150 dogs and cats were sterilised in our first year – but over half of these were in the last two months now that we have a new employee and can work regularly again. Thank you to everyone who has helped us through our first year; unfortunately far too many to mention everyone here but most recently, apart from others mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, thanks to Gatesville Medical Centre, Ebie Jooste of Pfizer Animal Health, the Plumbing Workshop, Keith Bradshaw, Supa Quick Fish Hoek and, once again, TURTLE CREEK COMPUTERS e-mail sales@turtlecreek.co.za And thanks to the hard work of all our volunteers, without whom none of this work would have been possible.

FUNDRAISER
We are hoping to have a fundraising evening soon – if anyone can donate good quality items for raffle or auction we would love to hear from you.

Our ‘door-to-door’ policy… a little education… and excellent results.
Two young puppies were lying by the side of the road, looking rather poorly. Our field worker, Barrington, had only been employed for two weeks and he was out with a volunteer, Louise, when they saw the pups. They couldn’t find the owner so were unsure how to proceed, so they reported back to me. I found them in the same spot, but they ran away when approached, frightened. The mother dog appeared in the distance but would not approach us, just barking and running if we tried to get closer. I managed to catch the puppies, which were probably about 8 weeks old, and noted that they were in poor condition and covered in fleas and ticks. No answer to my knock at the door, so I left one of our education leaflets with a simple note saying the pups were sick and that we could help, and requesting that the owner ‘phone us. I judged that the puppies, although in bad shape, were not in immediate danger of dying, and so put the ball in the owner’s court – education is one of our imperatives. We left some food and a bowl of fresh water. The next day the owner did ‘phone us and requested assistance. We fixed a time and she was there, pleased to see us. The pups ran from us again and the mother dog came a little closer but still didn’t trust us. I discussed the essentials of primary health care (vaccination, parasite treatment, sterilisation) and the owner agreed to let us take the bitch for sterilisation the following week, and also the puppies if they were fit enough. She bought some food from us and paid a little towards the cost of the treatments we gave the family of three for their heavy burdens of worms, fleas and ticks. We collected all three a few days later as scheduled – what a difference already. Parasite-free and not on the run. The owner paid a little more so that we could vaccinate them against distemper, a viral disease that kills dogs in this community, and some other diseases. The family ate a good meal at our clinic that evening and the following day mother and daughter and son were all sterilised. The owner ‘phoned to ask how they were. 24 hours after that they went home, and we gave the owner a kennel which had been donated to us. Several days later we went back to the property. It was like different dogs greeted us – the three of them ran up to our bakkie, tails wagging and coats shiny. Although their food bowls were empty, they now had water and shelter, and were in much better condition. The pups were still trying to feed from mum but she had put on a bit of weight despite this. One happy and proud owner and three happy dogs. If we hadn’t driven along that road I wonder where they would be now.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to TONY OF MR STRIPES
7c Military Rd, Steenberg 021 701 5996 for your vehicle decals & striping, signage, corporate clothing.

X-RAY FACILITY
We are in the process of setting up an X-ray facility so we can help sort out the broken legs we see as a result of the frequent motor vehicle accidents that occur in our poor areas. Many thanks to Animal Rescue Organisation for donating their old machine. Also thanks to Morton and Partners, to Miss Bowie from Groote Schuur and to Wendy Barnard. We would really like to get a shipping container donated to convert to an X-ray room and dark room – can anyone help? Anyone else who is able to assist us with any equipment for an X-ray facility please contact us. Hopefully we will be up and running by the next newsletter – watch this space!

THANK YOU to KERINGA / PETWINGS
for donating carrying boxes for our patients For comprehensive pet TRAVEL services - 'phone 0861 30 31 32
or VISIT WWW.PETWINGS.CO.ZA

Remember - sterilise your pets…
…a single mother cat and her kittens can produce 420 000 kittens in just 7 years…
…and one female dog and her offspring could produce 67,000 dogs in 6 years.

Untill next time.....