Larger kennels, a more visitor-friendly facility and picturesque gardens with wheelchair ramps are just some of the renovations recently undertaken at the East London SPCA thanks to Marlene Neumann and her Buckaroo team.
Neumann, a well known fine arts photographer, said the idea to renovate the SPCA came around two years ago when she found a stray dog walking along the beach.
After rescuing it, Neumann took it to the animal sanctuary for safety and that was when she saw the size of the kennels. She was appalled and felt they were too small for the animals.
Neumann said she decided to do something, starting with adopting the pooch, who she has named Romeo.
A plea for help was sent to all on her database later that day.
“I have thousands of people on my database and I just sent out an e-mail asking if anyone was keen to help,” she said.
“The e-mails flooded my computer and I was so overwhelmed.
“After organising them into some sort of order, I spoke to the manager and asked her what she wanted, not for herself, but for the animals.
“Of course she said new kennels and I agreed with her. We immediately kicked off with fundraising.”
A number of public meetings were held, where around 60 to 80 people decided on which direction the renovations should go.
Neumann said people pledged not only time but money, equipment and resources too.
A total of R1-million in cash was raised over the course of a year through a number of fundraisers.
The renovations kicked off not long after that, and are now complete.
The animals now enjoy kennels that are double in size, and the revamp includes benches among the flowering gardens, concrete walkways around the kennels, water tanks, new taps and additional fencing.
“I also introduced a dog walker programme where the animals are walked once every few hours,” Neumann said.
The renovations will be celebrated this weekend when the SPCA hosts an open day on Saturday, where members of the public can see the new facilities and hopefully adopt a pet too.
“So many people opened their hearts. It really just goes to show that there are more animal lovers in the world than we thought,” Neumann said.
The open day kicks off at 9am on Saturday and runs until 5pm.
There will be games, a celebration of the Buckaroo campaign champions and hourly talks by an animal behaviourist.
EL SPCA receives a touch of love
Neumann, a well known fine arts photographer, said the idea to renovate the SPCA came around two years ago when she found a stray dog walking along the beach.
After rescuing it, Neumann took it to the animal sanctuary for safety and that was when she saw the size of the kennels. She was appalled and felt they were too small for the animals.
Neumann said she decided to do something, starting with adopting the pooch, who she has named Romeo.
A plea for help was sent to all on her database later that day.
“I have thousands of people on my database and I just sent out an e-mail asking if anyone was keen to help,” she said.
“The e-mails flooded my computer and I was so overwhelmed.
“After organising them into some sort of order, I spoke to the manager and asked her what she wanted, not for herself, but for the animals.
“Of course she said new kennels and I agreed with her. We immediately kicked off with fundraising.”
A number of public meetings were held, where around 60 to 80 people decided on which direction the renovations should go.
Neumann said people pledged not only time but money, equipment and resources too.
A total of R1-million in cash was raised over the course of a year through a number of fundraisers.
The renovations kicked off not long after that, and are now complete.
The animals now enjoy kennels that are double in size, and the revamp includes benches among the flowering gardens, concrete walkways around the kennels, water tanks, new taps and additional fencing.
“I also introduced a dog walker programme where the animals are walked once every few hours,” Neumann said.
The renovations will be celebrated this weekend when the SPCA hosts an open day on Saturday, where members of the public can see the new facilities and hopefully adopt a pet too.
“So many people opened their hearts. It really just goes to show that there are more animal lovers in the world than we thought,” Neumann said.
The open day kicks off at 9am on Saturday and runs until 5pm.
There will be games, a celebration of the Buckaroo campaign champions and hourly talks by an animal behaviourist.
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