NIEU-BETHESDA NEWS — Dogs are an important part of life in Nieu-Bethesda.
Most families own a few and they act as excellent early warning systems, faithful companions and many work hard as herders and hunters. Sterilizing these animals is, however, a costly exercise, and the canine population is increasing at quite a dramatic rate in the village.
A healthy dog should also be dipped and immunized to avoid deathly diseases such as the parva virus.
Grace Nel is passionate about the healthy livelihood of the animals in Nieu-Bethesda.
Wise beyond her years, she is determined to better the lives of these creatures who quite often cannot speak or act for themselves in the domestic environment in which they live. Grace Nel understands that education begins with the young and voluntarily gives of her time and energy to work with the youth of the village regarding animal care.
One frosty morning, Nel worked with Busisiwe Saba, animal health technician from the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, and encouraged youngsters to bring their pets to be dipped at the community centre.
Together with their young helpers, they dipped about 70 dogs from Pienaarsig. Nel said that they learned a few things during this exercise:
1. Karoo dogs hate water. They scream like they are being murdered when put into a bath of cold water.
2. Dipping these Karoo dogs is rather cumbersome and not very elegant in that it requires grabbing scruffs, legs and fast fleeing wet bodies!
3. It is possible to get more covered in dip than all the dogs combined!
Nel says, that the problems the village are:
• General ignorance about animal handling.
• Undernourished dogs.
• Mange and parva virus cases.
• A lack of collars and leads which add a sense of ownership and pride.
• Excessive breeding due to the expense of sterilisation.
Following the success of the dipping day, Nel realised that there are many young children out there who really care for their pets and love them dearly.
She is now motivated to get projects on the go to get children educated and involved in the care of these animals.
She is planning monthly workshops with these children, focusing on pride and care of themselves and their pets. Nel has also made a plea to the local community to sponsor the sterilisation of a dog.
Both the SPCA and the Camdeboo Sterilization Initiative (CSI) work diligently in the village, but often lack funds. Donating to these worthy causes with Nieu-Bethesda in mind will ensure that Nieu-Bethesda dogs are sterilised.
Anyone wanting to assist Nel with collars, leads, materials for children’s workshops, sterilisation any information on the work that Nel would like to accomplish with the village children regarding pet care, can call her on 083 260 1230.
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