Animal-Kind International supports Twala Trust's Doggy Tuesday by providing the funds to purchase food for ~600 dogs every week, who attend Doggy Tuesday with their human families. Beyond the funding for Doggy Tuesday (which is generously supported through AKI's Elaine Law Memorial Pet Food Fund), as an AKI Partner Organization, Twala Trust can use the additional funding we send for their priority animal care and welfare needs.
Animal Care and Welfare in Zimbabwe: The Waggley Tail Club
In particular, we love helping Twala Trust's Waggley Tail Club, a group of senior dogs, who get to live their retirement years at the Twala Trust sanctuary. Here are some of their stories.
Most Waggley Tail Club dogs have come to Twala Trust after spending their lives as guard dogs at family compounds and farms. Some have spent their Tuesdays at Twala Trust's Doggy Tuesday and are well-known to Twala's staff:
Some Waggley Tail Club members come from situations like Ellie's, where they've been loved and so well cared for their entire lives, but their owner can no longer provide the best of care and they willingly give their dog up.
Ellie attended Doggy Tuesday every week for 10 years with her now elderly owner. Ellie is 13 now and has a liver problem.
Ellie's heartbroken owner asked Twala Trust to give her the care she needs at Twala through the Waggley Tail Club because he can no longer care for her at home. Everyone cried when they said goodbye.
Twala Trust is hopeful that Ellie will rally enough to have a peaceful and well deserved retirement with the Waggley Tail Club. After 13 years of dedicated protection and companionship as part of a rural household, it's her turn to be cared for.
Mr and Mrs Zakeo of Chinyani Village adopted a new pup from Twala. They surrendered their elderly dog, a long-time Doggy Tuesday dog, who is now retired and a member of the Waggley Tail Club. An old rural dog gets a quiet life in retirement and a rescued pup gets a new home!
Bully, whose story was in our previous AKI Blog Post about Twala Trust, is now a permanent Waggley Tail Club member. He's always cheerful, always focused on the treats, loves everyone:
Animal Care and Welfare in Zimbabwe: Doggy Tuesday
Doggy Tuesday is now using 8 bags of kibble [dry packaged food] most weeks--putting a strain on Animal-Kind International's and Twala Trust's resources. Plus the Twala Trust staff cooks a lot of the food and mixes that with the kibble.
Watch this video to get a great idea of what Doggy Tuesday is like:
A new arrival at Doggy Tuesday, Brown enjoyed her first good meal. She's feeding puppies and is thin and anxious but she'll be sterilized as soon as the pups are weaned, and life will improve significantly for her.
This is the goal of Doggy Tuesday: healthy, happy, dogs who can remain at their homes for as long as possible, and are well-cared for by their owners. Blacky and Bruno epitomize this:
Danger is a Doggy Tuesday regular and a senior dog still living at home with his devoted owner!
Animal Care and Welfare in Zimbabwe: The Twala Trust "pop-up" library
It's not just the dogs who have fun at Doggy Tuesday. Twala Trust's pop-up library at Doggy Tuesday is where the kids gather to learn about animals and take part in fun activities--all involving dogs and cats (and they may not even realize that while they're having fun, they're learning!)
Little dog, Ravel, always helps out at the pop-up library:
At Doggy Tuesday, kids and dogs can particpate in several activities together, reinforcing the idea that dogs are our best friends, they are the perfect companion.
This is why we are honored to support Twala Trust's priority initiatives in animal care and welfare in Zimbabwe.
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