Statistics released by the City of Cape Town show that the city’s stray dog population totaled at least 230 000 in 2011. This staggering estimate is very likely to have exploded over the past years due to intact pets being dumped and left to join the City’s massive homeless and feral pet population.
“There is barely a day that goes by without us responding to the plight of a sick or injured stray, homeless or feral animal,” the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa (AWS) said in a statement.
Recently, social media has been abuzz following a number of sightings and attempts to catch an elusive stray dog seen wandering the busy streets of Ottery for a long time.
Thankfully, local couple Tony and Edith Van Der Rheede took pity on the dog and began to feed her every evening – slowly building up her trust until a humane trap could be set to catch her.
Since her arrival, she has been checked by AWS’ Veterinary team, who discovered that besides suffering from a nasty ear infection, tick-bite fever and being slightly under-weight, she is also pregnant.
“Word has spread that she is now in our care and she is being showered with love and well-wishes from everyone who has been following her intrepid journey,” the organization said.
“Tears of joy have flowed since her admission so when it came to deciding on an appropriate name Joy seemed like the obvious choice. Joy will spend the next few days in Hospital until she is fit and healthy enough to join her companions in our Animal Care Centre and we look forward to bringing you regular progress reports.
The organisation is now appealing to the public for assistance in covering Joy’s medical fees.
“Joy’s recovery is likely to be extensive and expensive but we know that you will agree that she is worth every single cent and we are hoping that we can count on you to help us cover some of the costs until we are able to find her a loving forever home,” they write.