Merry Festive Season from KAWS

Dear Members,
Like so many of us here in Knysna – and all over the world – we at KAWS have had a turbulent year. Since our previous newsletter, our staff and new Committee members have been working hard on goals and policy issues. Very sadly, the recent surge in Covid-19 infections has brought our most urgent and eagerly anticipated activities to a halt. To make things worse, one of our staff members has tested positive for the virus, and we have had to close the clinic and kennels for a few days. Fortunately, she’s recovering and so far there have been no more infections.
In a climate such as this, it is enormously difficult to start implementing activities and projects that we, as a Committee, regard as priorities. We had, for example, planned a dip day and food drop for Concordia, Smutsville and Hornlee on 16 December. Cancelling that was heart-breaking, more so since it would also have been linked with our sterilisation programme – the core of our bid to stabilise our domestic animal population in Knysna. Our end-of-year street collection was due to take place on the 19th and has been cancelled for fear of placing our volunteers and supporters at risk. And our open day jol and Christmas market at the kennels, when we could have introduced you to some of our cool cats and irresistible dogs – also cancelled!
But better safe than sorry: the animals need all of us to still be there tomorrow.
The good news is that our clinic and hospital have been running at full capacity, and that has meant that many cats and dogs (and even the odd piglet) have been getting the treatment they so urgently need. A lockdown-related shortage of medication sabotaged the mass sterilisation the new committee had envisaged before the end of the year, to our enormous frustration, but Dr Loots and her team have really pulled out all the stops to sterilise as many needy animals as they could.
We are, however, determined to sterilise many, many more animals next year. This goes hand-in-hand with our commitment to you that we will reduce KAWS’s euthanasia numbers. We need your help with this. Our fund-raising activities and events have been more or less throttled by Covid-19’s impact on South Africa’s economy. Please consider making a donation into the KAWS account, with the reference Steri & your name to help us achieve this.
Our bank account details are:
Knysna Animal Welfare Society
Bank: FNB
Branch code: 210-214 (Knysna)
Account number: 527-000-33-146

Every R350 can sponsor the sterilisation of one animal, thereby preventing countless unwanted puppies or kittens from getting born to a life of hardship. Take a look at the summary of our special projects, attached to this newsletter, to see the statistics and the links between sterilisation and the overall wellbeing of our domestic animals.
At this time of year, and especially this year, because of the economic devastation caused by Covid-19, many struggling Knysna households surrender animals that they can no longer afford to keep. Many of these animals are just too weak or too sick to save, but we are trying to give as many of them as possible a chance to recover, so that they can eventually be adopted into a loving home. This means that our medical costs are higher than before, and that some animals will need to stay at KAWS for longer than usual before they are suitable for adoption.
Of course being so full also means that our animals need a lot more food than before (particularly because so many of the surrendered animals have been starving), and blankets, to keep them warm and comfortable. Any donations of food (Montego Classic, if possible please) and blankets, especially fleece blankets (they dry more quickly after being washed), are greatly appreciated. If you can’t come in to the kennels, an EFT using FOOD, or BLANKETS, or STERILISATION, as a reference, will also be welcome and well used. We really do need your help to cover these expenses!
On the up side, our cattery and kennels are teeming with the most delightful cats and dogs on the planet. If you’re thinking of adopting, please do pop in, wearing your mask, and come and meet them. (If you prefer, you could check them out on our Facebook page first.) We’d l-o-v-e to introduce them to you, and to help you find the perfect furry companion for you and your household. If you have any other dog(s) at home, and you are considering adopting one of ours, we’ll also gladly introduce them to one another, to make as sure as we can that the KAWS newcomer will fit right in. Of course, if you know of someone who might want to adopt, please send them along too, because every single successful adoption makes up for so many of the other difficulties.
We thank you for your ongoing support. It is so heart-warming and encouraging to know that you are all out there, supporting KAWS. Your gifts and feedback are incredibly valuable to us.
And the very best reward for our efforts is an email or a photo about how crazy you and your family are about the best dog or cat ever that you adopted from KAWS…

A LAST MESSAGE FOR 2020 FROM THE KAWS COMMITTEE
To our members, donors, sponsors, and volunteers, we wish you and your family a blessed Christmas, a peaceful festive season, and a prosperous New Year.
We thank you all most sincerely for your continued recognition and support of the work that we do, in and around our communities.
A huge thank you to our wonderful staff for their dedication, passion, and strength through one of the toughest years at KAWS.
Another challenging year awaits us, and we rely on you to assist us in making it a better one for those without a voice.

KAWS PROJECTS – IMPROVING THE LIVES OF OUR ANIMALS

To donate towards any of these four projects, please visit the KAWS kennels to make a donation, or use the KAWS banking details provided below

STERILISATION PROJECT
By spaying or neutering (sterilising), you can prevent millions of healthy dogs from being euthanised each year simply because there aren’t enough homes or shelters to go around. One female dog can produce 2 litters of 6-10 puppies every year. This means one un-spayed female and her offspring can produce 67 000 dogs within 6 years.

Sterilisation not only prevents unwanted animals, it also improves the health of the animal population, reduces undesirable behaviours and reduces transmission of viral and bacterial diseases to humans.
KAWS embarked on its Sterilisation Project in 2017, and it works as follows: donors are asked to make a donation of R350, which will enable the Society to sterilise a dog. Where possible, a photo of the dog, together with the name of the donor, is then placed on our Facebook page. When necessary, the dog’s owner will also receive a kennel in line with the conditions of the Society’s Kennel Project.
The 2020 Committee made a commitment to the members and supporters of KAWS to radically reduce the number of euthanisations undertaken annually at KAWS. Accordingly, mass sterilisation interventions have become KAWS’s top long-term priority.

FERAL CATS: TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN (TNR) PROJECT
Cats breed 3 to 4 times per year from the age of just six months, with an average of 4 kittens per litter. This very quickly results in mega colonies of cats who are presecuted by humans who don’t want cats in their neighbourhoods. Usually found around food sources including garbage bins of commercial food outlets, these cats have an important role in rodent control. But it is essential to control their numbers using the Trap-Neuter-Return system.
Feral cats are often domestic cats that have been dumped or abandoned by their human owners and left to fend for themselves. They suffer starvation, illness and injury without our help.
KAWS endorses the practice of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as the only proven humane and effective method to manage feral cat colonies.

What is TNR and how does it work?

All of the above, to be successful, requires funding. In terms of the Feral Cat: Trap-Neuter-Return Project, for a donation of R300 a feral cat will be sterilised. A photo of the cat and the donor’s name will then be placed on the KAWS Facebook page.

KENNEL PROJECT
KAWS’s Kennel Project was launched in 2017 to provide much-needed shelter for dogs in the greater Knysna area whose owners could not afford to provide a kennel for their animals. A R400 donation will buy a kennel that will be given, in the donor’s name, to a dog that KAWS has identified as needing shelter. To qualify for a kennel, the dog’s owner has to agree to the following:

While delivering the kennels, the opportunity is used to educate dog owners on the proper care of their pets. Each kennel is delivered with a blanket, a food bowl and a bag of dog food. A photo of the kennel and the donor’s name is placed on the KAWS Facebook page.
To date, 438 kennels have been donated.
FROM THIS

UNCHAIN THE DOG PROJECT

In a perfect world, every dog would have a home, a human, a bed and a garden to call their own.
Sadly, our world is far from perfect. Many dogs are sentenced to a life at the end of a chain or rope, never knowing freedom. Chained dogs rarely receive sufficient care and are often ignored by their owners; they become part of the scenery. Their limited area becomes the only place they have to eat, sleep, urinate and defecate; their sad, small world.
The chaining or tying up of dogs is illegal in South Africa. However, the enforcement of the law is very difficult and can take a long time to implement. Our mission with this project is to:

The owner of a chained dog is required to work with KAWS to release the dog from the chain and become part of the Unchain the Dog Project. The donations, help and assistance of caring members of the public are vital. We will accept monetary donations or fencing materials. KAWS will work with such owners to educate them on why it is cruel to keep a dog on a chain and will assist with the erection of the fence. “Before” and “after” photos will be placed on the KAWS website together with the names of the people who contributed to making this happen.
FROM CHAIN TO FREEDOM (IMAGE BELOW)

To donate towards any of these four projects, please visit the KAWS kennels to make a donation, or use the KAWS banking details provided below:
Knysna Animal Welfare Society

First National Bank
Branch: 210 214 (Knysna)
Account number: 527 000 33 146

Reference:
Steri & your name,
Feral & your name,
Kennel & your name, or
Unchain & your name

THANK YOU!