An East London-based dog sterilisation drive, the Buckaroo Project, will receive about R600,000 from The Dogs Trust Worldwide, which it plans to use to sterilise more than 600 dogs in East London townships in the next 12 months.
Through the Dogs Trust Worldwide, Buckaroo founder Marlene Neumann was also invited and sponsored to attend a three-day international conference on dog population management in Mombasa, Kenya, in September.
The conference saw 200 delegates from 20 countries and specialists share various humane dog population management methods and present their best practices.
Recently returning from her journey, wheelchair- and crutches-bound Neumann hopes her newfound insight and the international support will boost the project and its impact in East London and its surrounds.
“The conference was incredible and I learnt a lot from it.
“It made me aware that Buckaroo is part of a much bigger family that is fighting for dogs all over the world.”
She said the extra funding would allow the project to sterilise at least 50 dogs every month.
It would also give Buckaroo the opportunity to focus their annual fundraising efforts on establishing pet care education programmes in the areas they worked in, said Neumann.
“It’s so exciting that Buckaroo has ‘gone international’ and has been recognised in this way.
“We started almost five years ago because I realised how much of an epidemic the ever- growing dog population is,” said Neumann. “One female dog can produce 55,000 dogs over a period of eight years.
“With high dog populations comes a lot of animal suffering, but it also affects people’s health.”
Neumann said rabies, parasites and worms were rife in areas with an influx of stray, untreated and uncared for animals.
“The conference in Kenya drove home the point that the wellbeing of the animals around us can directly affect people’s health.
“Various parasites and worms can be passed on to humans so if we don’t take care of and manage our dog populations, people suffer too,” she said.
In the first two years after its inception, the Buckaroo Project raised R1.2m to revamp the EL SPCA’s kennels and grounds.
In the last three years, the project has focused on sterilising dogs in the Jongilanga area in Brakfontein near Gonubie.
A total of 1,250 dogs have been sterilised through The Buckaroo Project since 2017.
“The extra funding would essentially allow us to sterilise almost double the amount of dogs we generally sterilise in a year,” said Neumann. She said the conference revealed the importance of organisations pooling their resources in an effort to have a greater impact.
In various countries, governments were involved in sterilisation projects, she said.
“I plan to work more closely with the local SPCA from now on and I’d love to see more organisations work together.
“Our goals are the same, it’s all for the animals, so if we join forces we may be more successful,” Neumann said.
“East London has a huge problem of stray dogs, especially in the townships.”
Big boost for Buckaroo’s pooches from overseas trust
Image: Supplied
An East London-based dog sterilisation drive, the Buckaroo Project, will receive about R600,000 from The Dogs Trust Worldwide, which it plans to use to sterilise more than 600 dogs in East London townships in the next 12 months.
Through the Dogs Trust Worldwide, Buckaroo founder Marlene Neumann was also invited and sponsored to attend a three-day international conference on dog population management in Mombasa, Kenya, in September.
The conference saw 200 delegates from 20 countries and specialists share various humane dog population management methods and present their best practices.
Recently returning from her journey, wheelchair- and crutches-bound Neumann hopes her newfound insight and the international support will boost the project and its impact in East London and its surrounds.
“The conference was incredible and I learnt a lot from it.
“It made me aware that Buckaroo is part of a much bigger family that is fighting for dogs all over the world.”
She said the extra funding would allow the project to sterilise at least 50 dogs every month.
It would also give Buckaroo the opportunity to focus their annual fundraising efforts on establishing pet care education programmes in the areas they worked in, said Neumann.
“It’s so exciting that Buckaroo has ‘gone international’ and has been recognised in this way.
“We started almost five years ago because I realised how much of an epidemic the ever- growing dog population is,” said Neumann. “One female dog can produce 55,000 dogs over a period of eight years.
“With high dog populations comes a lot of animal suffering, but it also affects people’s health.”
Neumann said rabies, parasites and worms were rife in areas with an influx of stray, untreated and uncared for animals.
“The conference in Kenya drove home the point that the wellbeing of the animals around us can directly affect people’s health.
“Various parasites and worms can be passed on to humans so if we don’t take care of and manage our dog populations, people suffer too,” she said.
In the first two years after its inception, the Buckaroo Project raised R1.2m to revamp the EL SPCA’s kennels and grounds.
In the last three years, the project has focused on sterilising dogs in the Jongilanga area in Brakfontein near Gonubie.
A total of 1,250 dogs have been sterilised through The Buckaroo Project since 2017.
“The extra funding would essentially allow us to sterilise almost double the amount of dogs we generally sterilise in a year,” said Neumann. She said the conference revealed the importance of organisations pooling their resources in an effort to have a greater impact.
In various countries, governments were involved in sterilisation projects, she said.
“I plan to work more closely with the local SPCA from now on and I’d love to see more organisations work together.
“Our goals are the same, it’s all for the animals, so if we join forces we may be more successful,” Neumann said.
“East London has a huge problem of stray dogs, especially in the townships.”
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