When times are tough help is only a tweet away.
|||When times are tough help is only a tweet away.
When staff at the Amanzimtoti SPCA opened their last packet of dog food on Tuesday, they were unsure what would happen to the 55 dogs in their care when that packet ran out.
However, two part-time volunteers, Kate Thompson and Jayne Wright, took it upon themselves to motivate people to donate food.
“We started broadcasting messages on BBM, and putting status updates on Facebook, and people then started spreading those messages on other social network sites such as Twitter and e-mailing their friends, families and colleagues,” said Thompson, who works for a motor company.
While the situation was dire earlier this week, their efforts have reaped the desired results.
“It’s been unbelievable, people from all over, not just the nearby communities, have been coming in and dropping off bags of food, and within these past few days we’ve had hundreds of donations, mostly from individuals but also from companies as well,” said branch manager Tracy Girling.
She said that they had run out of food in the past, but the community always rallied around them.
“We sometimes have poor people who come here and say they can’t afford food for their dogs. We cannot turn them away so we give them bags of food as well,” said Girling.
People have also donated blankets for the kennels. One of Wright’s friends from Australia donated A$1 000 (R9400).
“Of course, some people were sceptical when they saw the messages asking for dog food, and called into the SPCA to ask if it was true, and now people are pledging to buy a bag of dog food every month from now on because they didn’t know how bad the situation gets in trying to care for these wonderful animals,” said Thompson.
People willing to donate can contact the Amanzimtoti SPCA at 031 904 2424. The branch also accepts items for their thrift shop, which sells good quality items to the public, the proceeds of which go towards the running of the branch. -Independent On Saturday