#animaltalkcaresWELFARESafe haven for service dogs
With the aim to honour dogs which gave the
majority of their lives to the service of mankind,
Retreat2Eden was founded by Johann and
Lynne Wilhelm on a sprawling 43ha farm in
the Southwell area of Port Alfred.
“Service dogs are life’s unsung heroes, but
not at Retreat 2 Eden. These dogs are the very
essence of our K9 Heroes Programme. Many
of them battle to find homes. With very few
exceptions, the handlers are not interested
once the dogs have outlived their usefulness as
a service animal and are destroyed.
“But we decided to honour their dedicated
and unquestioning loyalty through our K9
Heroes Programme,” says Johann.
Muddy obstacles
for charity
If you were there, you would know how much
fun dogs and their owners had at a previous
Muddy Puppy event in Centurion. With about 350
participants and 400 dogs, everybody enjoyed
themselves, all in the name of charity.
Imagine inflatables, mud, colour and other
doggy obstacles over 2.4km and a whole lot of
jumping, barking, crawling, climbing, slipping and
sliding. And of course, lots of tail wags.
Profits from the dog wash and a percentage of
Muddy Puppy event profits were donated to The
9th Day Animal Shelter.There are cages
that are always
left open, a safe
retreat for the dogs,
most of who have
never known any
other kind of life.
Some, however,
are initially just too
aggressive to be
integrated and this
is where community
support comes in.
“With the aid of
Rotary, The Lions
and Interact in Port Alfred, we were able to build
two large enclosures which are currently home
to Caesar and Phantom, two beautiful German
Shepherds Dogs who are slowly learning to
lose their aggressive streaks and also learning
to play like puppies again.”
“When dealing with ex-service dogs there are
many aspects which have to be considered.
They have lived in cages and know nothing other
than the aggression that is often demanded of
them,” says Johann.
“A lot would not be possible without the help
of the Port Alfred community,” says Johann.
For more information visit the Retreat2Eden
page on Facebook.1,000 Paws
The SPCAs of Pietermaritzburg, uMngeni
(Howick) and Mooi River will be holding
their 11th Hills 1,000 Paws Walk at Hilton
College on Sunday 14 July 2019.
There are two walks on the day, one of
2km and another one of 4km. Use this
opportunity to enjoy the healthy outdoors of
the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, stretch your
legs, or simply go and relax. You can also
enjoy all the various breeds of dogs wearing
bandanas and the exciting events on offer.
View the delights of the sponsors’ stalls, enjoy
a cup of tea or coffee and something to eat.
Or you can watch the kids have fun or talk
to animal lovers with similar interests and
learn something new from the experts who
will be there too.
For more information, contact Atholl
Midgley on [email protected].