We’re a busy bunch of brakaholics, and there’s always news to share. To make sure you’re always kept in the loop, we send regular email updates to our supporters – click here to join our mailing list to follow African Tails on our exciting life-saving adventures.

THE 2012 AFRICAN TAILS CALENDAR SPONSORED BY Pedigree^®

It’s official – our 2012 “The Good Dog Guide” African Tails Calendar (sponsored by Pedigree^®) has hit the shelves and is available for R120.00 (or 10 for R1000.00) at various outlets (listed below) and for R135.00 if purchased online at our Charity Shop.  The calendars will soon blanket the West Coast and The Southern Suburbs and we will update the list as we go along.  You can also place an order or enquire about outlets by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it WHILST STOCKS LAST!!!!!!!

 

The Calendar launch went off like a rocket and we’d like to extend many slobbery thank you’s to: Pedigree^® (sponsored printing and launch), Josie Borain (photographer), New Media Publishing (Crispian Brown for the design), Blake’s Lounge (host), Dominique Rossouw, Yael Fialkov, Janna Joseph, Neil Ismay (Board Members who put both the calendar and launch together), Casper De Auctioneer, Simon and Nikki Harris, Natalie Ansley and Bronwyn Davis (volunteering and manning our sales stands).  And to all the muttnificent people who were there!

 

 

100% of the proceeds go towards sustaining African Tails – to further our aims of saving and sterilising Cape Town’s street and township dogs.  The calendar makes the ideal Christmas gift.  If you would like to be a proud vendor (on a consignment basis) for our calendar – please drop us a line.

 

Outlets:

 

 

Online – www.apetslife.co.za

Atlantic Seaboard

· Vet Point (Dr Reena Cotton) – Nedbank Centre Sea Point

· Green Point Vet (High level Rd Green Point)

· Tangles (Main Rd Sea Point, next door Loughton’s)

· Planet Woof (In New Cape Quarter Mall on Somerset Rd Green Point)

· Planet Woof Camps Bay

· Yael Fialkov (Atlantic Seaboard/CBD) – 082 422 1553

· Janna Joseph (Atlantic Seaboard/CBD) – 082 441 9370

 

City Bowl

 

· Citi Vet Tamboerskloof (De Lorentz Street)

· Citi Vet Gardens

Southern Suburbs

· Hillside vet Wynberg

· Vet Shop Fountain Centre Rondebosch (from 26 October)

· Constantia Vet Shop

· Hout Bay Vet Shop (from 22 October)

Northern Suburbs

· Platinum Pet Nutrition, Burgundy Square, Burgundy Drive, Burgundy Estate

· Vetshop @ Tygervalley Shopping Centre, Shop 623, Entrance #7 (Game Entrance)

Milnerton

· Absolute Pets, Canal Walk , Shop 121 Lower Level

· Vetshop @ Century, Canal Walk, Shop 176 Lower Level

· Milnerton Vetshop, Paddocks Shopping Centre, Race Course Road Milnerton

 

Table View

 

· Vet Clin, Table Biew

· Pet Shop in Pick ‘n Pay centre Table View (TBC)

· West Coast Vet, Sandown Rd, West Beach

 

Somerset West

 

· Peta Dunn (Somerset West – 082 498 9478)

· Ebony, 4 Franschhoek Square, 32 Huguenot Street, Franschhoek

All Wordsworth outlets (Cape Town)

 

 

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AFRICAN TAILS GOES BRAK TO BASICS: Because sterilisation is the only solution...

African Tails’ primary goal has always been sterilisation… but over the last year or so, our attention has been diverted by the many individual dogs that need rescuing and rehoming. But it’s time to refocus that attention on sterilisation, in an effort to truly curb the overpopulation, rather than just saving a handful of individuals.

Why? Because...

• One unsterilised female dog and her offspring can produce 67 000 dogs in six years. It’s anyone’s guess how many unsterilised females are currently roaming the townships. Sometimes, when we rescue a mother and her six-week-old puppies, we find she’s already pregnant with yet another litter! A female puppy goes on heat for the first time at just six months of age, and from then on, she’ll go on heat twice a year. The maths of this is just frightening.

• Every dog we rescue costs time, effort and money. If we spend R20 000, for example, turning 20 dogs’ lives around, that money could rather be used to sterilise 200 dogs in the townships. That’s thousands and thousands of puppies that would not have to suffer a life of abuse and neglect, compared to just 20 dogs who find new happy homes.

• There aren’t enough homes for the township pup-ulation. And it’s growing every day. Rescuing a small number of dogs may sound fantastic, but it’s like putting a plaster over a gunshot wound; the source of the problem has not been addressed, and the longer you leave it, the worse it gets. Despite all our plea’s to the public to “adopt a rescue”, we are still saddened daily by the amount of people who still support breeders by buying pedigree dogs for thousands of Rands and even cross breeds from backyard breeders – or worse yet – people who still insist on letting their dogs have “just one litter” “for the sake of the children to see the wonder of birth or for the dog to be whole and complete”.

• There aren’t enough foster homes out there – we spend many a day barking up one tree after another in a desperate (and often futile) search for loving foster homes for our rescues. We don’t have a shelter facility and rely on caring people to open up their homes to our rescues before we can find them their happily ever after’s. Thank you to all those loving foster mom’s and dad’s that have helped us turn 380 dog lives around in the past 3.5 years.

• There are already so many shelters! While we spend all our time and money finding homes for our rescued dogs, thousands of other dogs are in shelters around South Africa, waiting desperately for someone to take them home.

In short, we have to be cruel to be kind. Prevention is better than cure, and the only way we can ever hope to make a tangible difference to the plight of these dogs is to stop the cycle at its source. At the moment we are simply chasing our tails, rather than moving forward and making a real difference.

Currently, African Tails has over 60 dogs in foster care. With this in mind, we have decided to close our doors to further rescues and find homes for the dogs we already have. Ultimately, we aim to bring our numbers back down to a maximum of 15 rescued dogs at a time. This is more manageable for the African Tails staff and fosters, and will allow us to focus on sterilisation. If we can cut back on the time, energy and resources it costs us to rehome a fraction of the dogs that are out there, we could focus more intensively on monthly and weekly sterilisation campaigns. 

Does this mean we won’t be rescuing any more dogs?
We will still be rescuing, but in much smaller numbers (maximum 15 dogs at a time). Our focus will be on sterilisation, and our secondary function will be rescuing and rehoming (which will only apply to township dogs).

What should you do if you find a stray dog?
There are many existing shelters that take in strays – such as the SPCA and the Animal Anti-Cruelty League – and we urge you to contact one of them if you need help. They are specialised organisations whose primary focus is rescuing and rehoming, and they will therefore be the best people to call.

If you can’t keep your dog…
First of all, please think twice before abandoning him or her. There are always other solutions – like finding a pet-friendly apartment, taking your dog with you when you emigrate, or phoning an Animal Behaviourist if you’re having trouble with your dog. Please feel free to contact us if you need some advice on these options. If you really must give up your dog and you adopted him or her from African Tails, please contact us ASAP. We will take full responsibility for any of our graduates and will help you find a new home for your hound. If your dog is not from African Tails, however, please contact one of the abovementioned organisations. 

What’s our next step?
Find homes for our current 60+ dogs … and for this we need your help! If you or anyone you know is looking for wonderful new best friend, please have a look at the homeseeking hounds on our website (www.africantails.co.za) or on our Facebook page. Once our numbers are down to a maximum of 15 dogs, we can begin to refocus on our primary goal: sterilisation!

How are we going to sterilise?
We plan to start running vaccination clinics and monthly mass-sterilisations (i.e. PRIMARY CARE) in the townships, as well as mini-sterilisations on a weekly basis. This is thanks to Peninsula Beverages (aka Coca Cola) who generously donated a container for us to establish as a clinic and thanks wonderful vets like Dr Yvonne Robson and Dr Roos (of Stellenbosch Animal Welfare) who have made their passion for sterilising, their facilities and their expertise available for us to make a quantifiable difference in the near future. We are also going to focus our efforts on EDUCATION - in both rural and urban schools as well as educating and assisting existing dog owners in the township to provide the best for their loyal friends. 

We also can’t achieve these goals without your help so appeal for you to please complete the attached debit order form and know that for every R100 you contribute to us per month, one township dog’s sterilisation will be subsidized by you. That’s a pleasing thought for the conscience when drifting off to sleep on cold, stormy nights.

At the end of each day, we will be able to wipe the sweat off our brows and know that we have truly made an impact. And that’s what we call a real happy ending.

AFRICAN TAILS EDUCATIONAL DRIVE

Wagenmakers & Voorgroenberg Primary Schools, Boland, April 2010

Andre Verbiest, one of our extremely hard-working and dedicated volunteers, is trying to make a difference in underpriviledged communities by educating the children in order to prevent neglect and abuse of animals within these areas. A few weeks ago he visited Voorgroenberg and Wagenmakers Primary Schools in the Boland area and the response was tremendous. 

By introducing the children to Lucky Lucy (dog tied to the train tracks earlier this year) and explaining the horrific abuse which she went through, Andre was able to put the message across that cruelty to animals is just not an option. He said 80% of the kids shed a tear over Lucy's unimaginable story and were extremely receptive. Andre said that quite a lot of kids take part in animal abuse as their elders encourage it- a cycle which has to stop. Education needs to not only be aimed at the children in these communities, but also at the adults.

A very careful and tactful approach is needed to address this type of abuse, the kids are dying to stop the animal abuse themselves, but don't know how.

Both Schools will willingly help with a Mass Sterilization by allowing the students to bring their dogs and cats, and help with the after care, both principals would allow it, as a educational process. Now we as African Tails need to help with these DipDays every 2nd Saturday. We are in need of baths, dog shampoo, dip, inoculations, photo's of dogs/cats taken, recorded and logged so come mass sterilization days we know how many, male and female. And we also need volunteers 2-3hrs on a Saturday with laptops and digital cameras.

If anyone can assist with this or any of the resources listed above, please contact Richelle and Andre on 073 928 6236 or the African Tails head office on 021 448 8074 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

AFRICAN TRAILS REUNION WALK

Sunrise Beach, Muizenberg, Saturday 8 May 2010

Here are some pics taken on the day... Enjoy!