Sam was starving, covered in mange and lay shivering in the mud and his own feces…

It’s winter and freezing cold in Grabouw, South Africa, and conditions are critical for the thousands of street dogs who fight for survival in this hard and unforgiving environment. They need our help today!

The Covid economic catastrophe has seen the situation for animals in this impoverished area spiral out of control. The result is uncontrolled breeding that has led to massive overpopulation.

Thousands of dogs are suffering from mange, agonizing diseases and unspeakable abuse.

It's heart-breaking, and we must act now.

It’s so hard to imagine thousands of hungry dogs, but when one of our supporters alerted us, we had to investigate. What we found was beyond shocking.

Nearly everyone in the area has one or two dogs. Before Covid, the people had just enough money to feed them. Now, no money exists to take care of them. Dogs are on their own.

It’s the middle of winter in South Africa, and Grabouw is cold and wet. On our visit, we found dogs surviving in the most appalling conditions.

Let us tell you about Sam’s story…

Behind a tin shanty, lay a grim makeshift doghouse set in the mud and made from a few bits of wood. In this sorrowful excuse for a “shelter”, we found a scared and very sick dog we named Sam.

Sam was covered in mange and lay shivering in the mud and in his own faeces.

Our hearts sank. NO animal should ever endure such suffering.

Sam yelped as we reached out to him – he had no reason to trust humans. Once he realized we were there to help, he became the sweetest boy you could imagine. We rushed him to a nearby veterinary clinic. Sam is going to recover but he will require special treatment and will need lots of love to teach him that not all humans are cruel.

The Grabouw Animal Welfare Society (GAWS) is a small organization doing its very best to improve the tragic situation in the area. According to GAWS, up to 120,000 neglected dogs live in the Grabouw area. There is no way they can help them all. Sadly, because of the coronavirus and crashing economies, GAWS is stretched to capacity. In this unprecedented time, animals are sadly last on the authorities’ priority lists and funding has been cut. GAWS really wants to help Sam and all the other abused and hungry dogs that need help. We had to do something to help!

We have promised to help Sam and as many of his friends as possible. It’s a daunting challenge but we must do what we can. Any donation you make will help feed hungry dogs in this poor and desperate area.

Our first goal is to rush emergency food to as many hungry dogs as possible. The second is to try to get veterinary treatment for the animals with the most severe medical needs. Then, our third goal is to begin an outreach program there to educate people about the proper care of dogs.

Together we can change this awful situation, but we can’t do this without you. So please donate today so that we can start our feeding program immediately and help the starving animals of Grabouw.

For the animals,

Brian and Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founders Network for Animals

P.S. It will shock you to learn that the poor, mostly uneducated people in the area do not even know that dogs need care! Please donate today so we can feed the starving dogs and help humans learn about how wonderful dogs can be and are given the chance to be fed and loved.