Comforted by street dogs when he lived rough, now Shaygam Newman is reciprocating their kindness

A little while ago, we told you the story of Mr. Kindly, Shaygam Newman, who lovingly cares for street dogs in Hangberg, South Africa, a dreadfully poor community of 28,000 people near Cape Town, where dog’s lives can be horrible, harsh and short.

Last year, Network for Animals started guiding Shaygam on how to help dogs more effectively. He now feeds and rescues many of the community’s animals.

Grinding poverty and lawlessness mean that riots are commonplace in Hangberg; the area is a base for cruel gangsters who do terrible things to dogs.

The gangsters see dogs as expendable commodities to be exploited for profit. These horrible people torture dogs, starve them, lock them up in a small cage for months at a time, before throwing them into a pit to be torn to death by dogs trained to do just that.

Shaygam can’t fight the gangsters alone, so he teaches people kindness to animals and uses every penny he can scrape together to patrol and protect the area’s animals, providing food, love and care. He rescues dogs whenever he can.

Shaygam is the heart and soul of animal welfare. While accompanying Shaygam on his missions of mercy we came across Bruno, a sick, starving dog. The dog lay in the sand so weak it could barely move. Bruno’s owner tried to chase him away but Shaygam faced her down.

Orphaned as a child, Shaygam was so abused by a drunken uncle that he slept on the streets, finding love with the street dogs who kept him warm at night. He swore to repay the dogs, the only creatures who gave him love.

Shaygam has a healing gift. He can heal dogs that vets would deem lost causes, almost miraculously turning them into well-adjusted happy dogs.

Shaygam tries to set a good example and recruits what he calls “Shaygam’s crew,” youngsters from the area, who normally would be tempted by gangs to lead a life of crime. He teaches them instead to love and care for animals.

Mr. Kindly is a good name for Shaygam, and he needs our help. There’s no animal shelter in Hangberg, no vets, no police presence, just squalor, crime and pain for the dogs.

I am helping Shaygam to make lives better for Hangberg’s dogs, please, if you possibly can, make a generous donation to Network for Animals today so that together we can give the dogs of Hangberg a better life.

For the animals,

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P.S. Please, if you possibly can today, help me help Shaygam continue his lifesaving work for street dogs in South Africa. This young boy is special – the pure heart and soul of animal welfare. Without him and without your support, so many innocent dogs would suffer and die unbearable deaths.