Amanda, how long have you been working at Darg?
Just over two years.
Let’s talk about Darg?
On a daily basis, we clean, feed and sterilize as many animals as we can. We try to rehome as many animals as we can.
Do you get a lot of people coming to volunteer?
Yes, we do, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.
Do you get a lot of animals that have been hurt?
Yes, we do.
It is such a terrible thing to hurt an animal, there is a long process of recovery for these animals. Do they stay with you throughout this process or are they rehomed?
If the injuries are bad we try to keep them here if we have space. As you can see we are very full. We only return animals to their owners if we know they will be safe. We also help with food and other medical bills, we also vaccinate for such a small amount.
What is the process to adopt?
We have an adoption fee. We must do pairing if they have other dogs, we also do a home-check.
Are the puppies first to go or are people also looking at the older dogs?
When you have kids here with their parents the first thing they look at are the puppies. It is easier to home a puppy then it is to home an older dog. Some of the older dogs have been here for quite some time. Although I have to say recently we have had four dogs that had each been here for over two years, rehomed successfully. We are very happy about that.
Fantastic! You guys not too long ago had some trouble with money?
We had a pledge on Facebook and our webpage for a R50 donation every month, it is just a simple debit order. We got a lot of people signing up, although we would love more. The public has been really good when it comes to clothing, food, blankets, brushes, treats and toys for the animals.
There was talk of you guys closing your doors?
Yes, we were about to shut down and thank goodness it never came to that. Thank you to the public if it wasn’t for you this place would have closed. People like Raynor and Natalie, they came on board and transformed this place. There was nothing here, they cleaned everything, the staff are happier, the animals are happier. A big thank you to the two of them, if it wasn’t for them I also don’t know what we would have happened to the place.