Drive to sterilise 500 animals in March alone
Did you know that most domestic cats have life spans of 12 to 15 years? With an average of five kittens per litter, and four sets of litters a year, a cat can give birth to up to 300 kittens in its lifetime.
A dog can have three litters a year, with seven puppies per litter. That equates to 126 puppies in six years.
A single dog and her babies can have over 67 000 puppies in six years.
According to Stella Meldau, co-founder of Woodrock Animal Rescue that is “over 11 000 dogs that need safe, cruelty-free homes” per year. “It is impossible to find that many homes. That is why we must sterilise these animals before they can breed.”
During March, Woodrock Animal Rescue aims to sterilise 500 animals from disadvantaged communities, together with other animal shelters including Community Led Animal Welfare (Claw), Cause For Paws and Gideons Animal Outreach.
“Millions of domestic pets are euthanised in South Africa each year because they don’t have homes – numbers largely due to unplanned litters that could have been prevented by spaying or neutering,” says Meldau.
The 1st for Women Insurance, who recently launched a pet insurance product, has partnered with Woodrock Animal Rescue to help raise awareness for this drive, and future drives, in an effort to improve and enrich the lives of the voiceless.
“We encourage other corporates to join us in saving millions of future lives while at the same time, safeguarding their pets from uterine infections and breast cancer, which is fatal in about 50% of dogs and 90% of cats,” says Seugnette van Wyngaard, head of 1st for Women Insurance.
How can you help?
To support to Woodrock’s sterilisation drive, visit: https://www. backabuddy.co.za/mass-sterilisation-drive.
Alternatively, SMS “DOG” to 41990 at a cost of R25.
The sterilisation drive will be supervised by Dr Katie Kotze and Tales of Tails team.