Little Paws Big Hearts: Dog Houses for Township Dogs in South Africa

Little Paws Big Hearts' Kennel Building Empowerment Project (or Inja eKhaya, which means, "Dog in the Home") aimed to:

Provide critical shelter for animals and empower indigent and unemployed residents to start artisanal kennel building businesses to obtain much needed income in townships around Secunda, South Africa. 

The South African climate can be harsh: heavy downpours, cold wins, dust storms, and strong sun can cause real suffering for dogs who don't have adequate shelter. With this in mind and with our Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program funding, LPBH:

• Built 56 dog houses, providing 56 dogs with much needed shelter from extreme elements;

• Trained four people to build dog houses and operate a business building and selling dog houses. The four men (Moses Mhalandu and crew) all reside in Afghanistan Tokasahna. This established a strong kennel building operation in the township.

• Hosted a kennel painting competition to make the project exciting and participatory. Members of the public were invited to enter the competition and paint creative, colorful designs to make each dog house special.

Poster advertising the dog house painting competition

The winners were Martin and Rene Venter.

Winners of the dog house painting competition with Sonja Kempen, who along with her husband Louis, founded LPBH

During their regular outreaches (see more below), LPBH identified dogs in need of dog houses in the local townships in South Africa. Six completed kennels at a time were loaded onto the back of a pick up truck for transport, and the dog houses were delivered to the four areas that LPBH serves, all in and around Secunda:

• Holfontein (18 kilometers from home base)

• Ngobeni (25 kilometers from home base)

• Marikana (41 kilometers from home base)

• Afghanistan (42 kilometers from home base)

Loading up dog houses for delivery to 6 lucky dogs!

Dog house delivery

Little Paws Big Hearts is committed to the sustainability of Inja eKhaya. They see this as a way to benefit both human and non-human animals. They plan to continue the current model that they created and learned from during the grant project. They also intend to train eight more residents in townships (and may even increase the number) to create more income generation opportunities for indigent families and communities.

The hope is that people will place more value on their dogs and take pride that their dogs now have colorful, comfortable new homes, going from this:

The old style dog house: a makeshift home for a dog....uncomfortable and no protection against the elements

And this:

The old style dog house: thrown together with anything available

To this:

A new, comfy home: something to be proud of

And this:

The new style dog house: even the dog is proud to live there!

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Little Paws Big Hearts' bi-weekly outreaches stress trust and relationship building. Their outreaches are focused on four poor communities near Secunda, South Africa. During the outreaches, LPBH volunteers go door-to-door to ensure that each companion animal receives a general check-up and a dip against parasites; and to engage with residents on the importance of animal care.

LPBH also distributes cat and dog food to assist in alleviating the financial burden of purchasing food when the residents themselves struggle to survive. Should animals require more intensive veterinary treatment, vaccinations, and for sterilization, LPBH will transport the cat or dog to a veterinary clinic. LPBH is also available for emergencies in the period between outreaches.

LPBH provides all of these services free of charge. LPBH has no paid staff; all their work is undertaken by volunteers.