Hope for Homeless Animals

Funda Nenja, a township dog training initiative, started in Mpophomeni Township, outside Howick, KZN, in July 2009, has taken us all by storm.   A tentative trickle of about a dozen people with their dogs came to the first class.   Week by week the numbers have grown until by the end of 2009 they average around 70 and many are being reluctantly turned away due to a lack of resources.

Funda Nenja (which loosely translates to “learning with the dog”) is now at the stage of running simultaneous classes for young puppies, half grown puppies, beginner adult dogs, intermediate 1 and 2, and the highly coveted “advanced” class.

The highlight of 2009 was recently fielding our first demo team at a Pietermaritzburg school.   Our team of five youngsters and their dogs put on a polished display of obedience.   When one considers that these dogs were put in a car for the first time in their lives, travelled to a totally strange place, and then did their drill to an audience of several hundred schoolchildren with a public address system blaring in the background, their achievement was all the more remarkable.

We were all so proud of both the dogs and their unsophisticated young handlers who took it all in their stride.   Asked on that occasion what he has learned from Funda Nenja one of our young dog handlers replied, “I have learned that it is better to be kind to my dog and other animals. My dog now loves and trusts me and we both enjoy training together.”

The concept is not just about training township dogs.   It’s also about teaching dog owners about compassion, gentleness and care.   Education is given on animal welfare, the need for sterilization, humane handling of animals, as well as kind, gentle dog training methods.  In the puppy and beginner classes handlers learn to touch and stroke their dogs and to use their dog’s name.   They learn to overcome their fear of their dogs and they very rapidly develop amazing bonds as the dogs also learn to trust people and to enjoy the attention.

We work closely with uMngeni SPCA, which assists with the medical needs of the animals, and regular clinics are held where dogs are de-wormed, treated for fleas and ticks and identified for professional medical care. At our weekly training sessions we are invariably asked to contact the SPCA for animals in need which might otherwise not have been fortunate enough to be attended to at the SPCA clinic.

Every dog that takes part in the program is fitted with a collar and lead, and the handler is given 750 gm dog cubes to use as training treats for the forthcoming week.

As numbers have increased we find that our resources are severely stretched.    Supporters of this project can assist by sourcing or donating dog food, old or new collars and leads, de-wormers, flea and tick remedies. We also need more volunteers to assist on Friday afternoons. Dog training and handling experience would be an advantage, but is not essential as is some knowledge of isiZulu. Visitors are more than welcome.

Our wish list includes:

• Trailer to transport all the dog food and equipment each week
• Loudhailer
• Golf shirts, jeans and caps for the demo team
• Sponsorship of rabies inoculations for our volunteers ( R1000 each )
• Agility equipment

The ripple effect of this initiative is already manifesting itself in community involvement and enhanced awareness of the needs of animals leading to a more generally caring community. Youngsters who were previously indifferent to the dogs around them are now devoted to their animals.   Learning to care for an animal is a step towards becoming caring adults who could grow up to be future community leaders.

For further information please contact:

Adrienne Olivier at 083 636 0891 / 033 3306276 or adrienne.o@mweb.co.za

Financial donations would be much appreciated and can be deposited into the following bank account:

TDTI,

ABSA  Bank,

Howick,

Branch no 6097,

ac/no: 9233847317

Tags: animal care, animal welfare, education

This entry was posted by animalman on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 2:35 am and is filed under animal welfare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.