with only 6 months left of the year we cannot believe what we have achieved as the KAWS team.  We decided to not only give feedback on stories and events this month, but also to remind you of how important each and every supporter is to us. We implemented new projects, and started informational campaigns to share some hard hitting but very vital statistics with you.
We had a very busy month, not only reflecting on the fires from a year ago, but also celebrating the opportunities to assist animals with our various projects that have received such an amazing amount of support.
So sit back and enjoy 
Pawfully yours.

An animal lover changed his will to leave €1 million to his pet dog after the poodle saved his life when he had a heart attack.
Pasquale Rizzo (90) left everything he owned to his beloved pet dog who raised the alarm by barking after he suffered a heart attack in Milan, Italy.
The grateful pensioner didn’t want his best friend, a fluffy white pooch called Tor, to end up in a dog shelter when he died.
So he wrote up a will so the dog would get all his belongings, his properties, and cash worth a combined value of €1 million.
Pasquale didn’t have children and following his death, everything has now gone to the dog.
The animal lover was 83 when he found Tor near his home, on the outskirts of Milan. Tor quickly became his best friend and in 2014 he alerted Pasquale’s neighbours, who called an ambulance, after he suffered a heart attack.
After he’d recovered Pasquale told his lawyer he wanted to guarantee a good future for the dog.
Italian law doesn’t allow for animals to inherit but Pasquale was able to instruct a legal executor to carry out his wishes when he was gone.
Pasquale died at the end of April and Tor is now living in a special facility where he receives all the care he needs.
But the executor believes it would be better to find a new family for Tor and is now searching for the right owners.
He contacted local media in order to try and find a new home for the incredibly wealthy pooch.
It’s unclear what will happen to Tor’s fortune when he gets a new home and where the money will go when he eventually dies.
 
 

A HUGE THANK YOU TO DR MARK SHORTREED (KNYSNA VETS), DR PIETER JORDAAN (GEORGE REX VETS) AND DR LEON LOOTS (BLACKWATERS) FOR ASSISTING OUR TEAM ON WEDNESDAY THE 13TH OF JUNE IN OUR MINI SPAYATHON. WE MANAGED TO STERILIZE 19 ANIMALS.

THE STERILIZATIONS WERE MADE POSSIBLE BY THE SPONSOR A SPAY CAMPAIGN BY PET & POOL KNYSNA. THE AMOUNT OF R6300 WAS RAISED.  A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE COMMUNITY OF KNYSNA, SEDGEFIELD AND PLETTENBERG BAY THAT SUPPORTED PET & POOL WITH THIS INITIATIVE.

 

Like most of the community of Knysna commemorated the 7th of June, one year after the devastating fires ripped through our beautiful town, our team had a hard time dealing with all the emotions that went hand in hand with the weeks that followed after that awe-full day.
We remembered the lost but never forgotten,
We celebrated happy reunions and
We rejoiced the re-homed.

We were stretched to breaking point during the devastating fires last year, and never faltered once in our task to help as many as possible within our locality, and from neighbouring areas such as Plettenberg Bay.
An open invitation to all registered fire victims were sent out in the first few days after the fires, to offer free medical care, sterilization, food etc. as long as it would be possible.
Approximately 53 families responded to our notice and visited our kennels monthly to collect food, kennels, blankets etc. and whatever else we could assist them with for their beloved animals.
We still offer free medical care to the animals of fire victims.
We also sterilized 25 animals of fire victims free of charge.
We worked tirelessly on Social Media to assist owners with missing pets, and to reunite the stray ones with their owners. We drove for days to burned and abandoned properties to search for missing dogs and cats, putting out food and water while digging through burned houses for any clues or proof of possible living or diseased animals.

During the first 6 months after the fires, we handed out thousands of kilograms of food, treated injured animals for weeks, assisted with animals for safekeeping for many misplaced families who could not take their animals to alternative housing, all free of charge. We also treated and fed not only domestic animals but also farm animals like geese, chickens, cows, horses, pigs, and wildlife that needed assistance.

Our Society and staff went from strength to strength in the last year, and we are very proud of what we, as a team, have achieved to uplift our Society.