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A small, but passionate, group of volunteers who want to make the world a better place for all animals and their owners.

What we do

• Education of the communities about caring for their animals.
• Assistance with primary care in the very poor communities.
• Sterilization of pets in the very poor communities.
• Monitoring of and offering assistance to small scale farmers.

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This is all done by a few volunteers – we started in the poor communities by walking from home to home to identify animals which need help. In this way we could find animals that would otherwise never receive proper care.

We work in several communities (Ashbury in Montagu, Zolani in Ashton, Plakkerskamp in Bonnievale) to assist pets to get primary healthcare including de-worming, vaccination including against rabies, external parasite (tick and flea) treatment - and of course we sterilise the pets.

Now we also run clinics at fixed points so people know when to expect us and where – this has had limited success and we have to really encourage people to make the effort to attend. Hence the volunteers still regularly do ‘rounds’ in the various areas where we work - and we really need more volunteers for this; please offer some time if you can.

We have also used a few locals to whom we pay a casual wage to assist within the community and also to help with the kennel building project. There are also plenty of other costs involved – the drugs needed for the surgeries and also the medicines we need for the primary healthcare are a big expense.

We have to heavily subsidise pet owners as the owners that we assist are at the bottom end of the huge wealth disparity which we see here in South Africa. We have had a great deal of success raising funds so far thanks to the generosity of many - thank you to everyone who has supported us financially or in other ways.

Unfortunately we cannot pick up stray animals as we do not have a property with holding kennels where they can be cared for. For this reason we also cannot do any re-homing of pets, so please contact the SPCA if you have a problem with a stray or lost animal.

The People

We are a small, but passionate, group of volunteers, and we cannot do the work we do without your contributions, from volunteering your time to your much needed financial donations.

Education

When AML started we visited several schools and libraries. The children enjoy the animal-related games and activities supplied by The Humane Education Trust. Unfortunately covid-19 has affected this work and we have not been allowed access in schools or libraries since the onset of the pandemic. We have, however, continued educating in the communities as we do our rounds and clinics, and we talk to people young and old. Many children follow us as we go around and we encourage empathy and compassion instead of kicking and teasing the animals!

Saturday Market

You were able find us every Saturday at the Montagu Village Market until Covid-19 put a stop to this. We hope to be back up and running soon, selling a range of goodies for your furry children. Please check this space again soon for more news.

Educational DVDs For Sale

Educational DVDs are available to order. Six themes are covered and each theme lasts about 12 minutes. A booklet is included in the package with suggestions for group discussions and activities. The DVD is aimed for Grade 6 and upwards. The DVDs are in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. We ask a nominal cost of R50 (excluding any postage and packaging) to cover expenses, but are happy to give out for less. Education is the important factor!

WHAT WE NEED

FUNDING, SPONSORSHIP, DONATIONS
Educational material, medications, vaccines, food, collars and leads, old towels and newspapers.
Carrying boxes, holding cages/pens for dogs and cats.
Blankets, old pieces of foam and kennels.

Another VEHICLE to do rounds in the communities - we have one working Montagu side but need another for Zolani / Bonnievale.

VOLUNTEERS
Fieldwork, admin, fundraising and a handyman.
Assistance with the manning of the Montagu Market stall.
Contact us and ask how you can get involved.

Vaccination campaign

Many owners are unaware of the costs involved in properly caring for the puppy or kitten which they have acquired. Some owners cannot cover the whole cost of deworming, flea/tick treatments and vaccinations but many truly care for and want the best for their pet and it is often uplifting for them to care for a pet. We ask owners to pay for these treatments but we do not want to euthanase pets simply because owners cannot pay for all the preventative healthcare - hence we would like to subsidise some of the cost for some owners.

Vaccination campaign

Young pups and kittens require 2 or 3 vaccinations to prevent some serious diseases such as distemper and parvovirus in pups and snuffles in kittens. We also vaccinate against rabies when the pet reaches 3 months of age. You can help us to support and uplift these families and pets by sponsoring a course of vaccinations for a puppy or kitten.

Fight the mite...

In our work in the communities we see MANY dogs with mange. Mange is a common skin disease in dogs and puppies in our poor communities. Mange can be intensely itchy and debilitating and is caused by different kinds of mites and affects many kinds of animals including, in the case of some mite species, humans.

Options for treatment include dipping and injections, but at AML we have had great success by using the newer (and safe) tablets now available. In most cases one treatment is sufficient to cure the mange so there is no problem with owner compliance where they must keep returning for further treatments.

...and ditch the itch

It is very important to treat all the cases of mange which we see, not only because it is very painful for the dog but also because sarcoptic mange is highly contagious to other dogs and also to people. The tablets are also effective against fleas and ticks, eliminating infestations of these for several weeks as well.

AML provides (and often heavily subsidises) the treatment for mange and we have had excellent results, massively improving dogs' lives! Many thanks to pharmaceutical company Zoetis for donating Simparica.

Kennel campaign

We have a carpenter who makes kennels which we allocate to poor owners whose dogs have little or no shelter. The kennels remain the property of AML and we check on the use of them often, making sure that the dogs are properly cared for. Kennels cost us approximately R400 per kennel and we are always looking for wood offcuts, old pallets as well as any donations of screws, spray paint and gun plastic plus bedding, towels, foam and, of course, financial - any amount helps.

Many dogs have benefitted from the kennels and we hope we can continue to make more – please support this campaign.

Sterilisation

One of AML’s main aims is sterilisation of pets. Many pets face euthanasia each month because there are not enough good homes for all those born, and many pups and kittens born in the poor communities die at birth or within the first few weeks of life – many suffering along the way.

Each female cat or dog can produce more than 60,000 new lives in 7 years and there are many benefits to sterilising your pets apart from the overpopulation problem – and your pet does not need to have a litter – there are no benefits – please do not add to the problem!

We have a clinical facility in Montagu which is registered with the South African Veterinary Council where we can do sterilisation surgeries and other minor procedures which are necessary, such as treating wounds. We also use a registered clinical facility in Ashton. Please note that these facilities are for welfare cases only and are not open to the general public.

Feral cats

We have assisted with a few feral cat sterilisations where we have used a 'trap-sterilise-release' program. We need to ensure that these cats are all being fed and monitored after releasing them back into the area where they came from. If you are aware of feral cat problems you are welcome to contact us although we cannot promise to assist – we have to ask people to help us to help them. That is, we need you to make sure that the cats are truly feral and do not belong to someone, and we need your help to catch them and bring them to us to be sterilised.

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HOW I CAN HELP?

DID YOU KNOW?

With PBO number 930068573, this allows us to give you a tax relief certificate for your donations.
This is a great reason to donate!

DONATIONS

BECOME A MEMBER

Premium

R480 (40/month) 12 months
  • you are a valued member helping us maximise our efforts.

    Gold

    R240 (20/month) 12 months
    • thank you, this will go a long way to help our furry friends.                  

      Volunteer

      R0 (0/month) 12 months
      • would you like to offer your assistance?
        Many hands make light work

        From the team at Animals Matter Langeberg and the animals that directly benefit from your contributions, we say thank you!

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        stroking dog in Pk2
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        NEWS and ARTICLES

        CONTACT US

        The current committee consists of H Preston (Chairman), L Beviss-Challinor (Secretary), Alison Kamffer (Treasurer)

        Contact Number: 076 578 4234 (Available on WhatsApp)
        NPO Number: 232-693

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