Tebogo Maredi started a walking club for township children and their dogs to create a community of animal lovers which would address neglect and abuse.
Soshanguve, South Africa (09 September 2022) – Tebogo Maredi is focusing on creating a community of animal lovers to address the animal cruelty he sees in his community.
Tebogo lives in the Soshanguve Township, just outside of Pretoria. He grew tired of seeing animals suffer and started the Soshanguve Animal Shelter and Educentre NPC to combat that. Having eyes on the ground, he has been able to get hands-on with changing the way his community deal with animals.
One of the ways Tebogo helps the animals in his community is by getting the youth involved. Every Friday, the community come together to do a mass dog walk. Each child is invited to bring their leashed dog, and together with friends, they walk and socialise. Sometimes, Tebogo gets everyone together to bathe their dogs. This community effort allows him to identify any animals needing extra attention.
“We invite children from our area and other areas to come do our walk in order to encourage responsible pet ownership. Keep dogs off chains and tied to trees and poles.
After our walk we cook food for the children as they come from underprivileged households at our informal settlement in Soshanguve. Then give them packs of dog food to take home. We also rescue animals in distress and take animals that needs urgent medical attention to the vets.”
Tebogo works hand in hand with supportive vets and the SPCA to make sure the animals are appropriately cared for. If there are any cases of cruelty, he can get the appropriate authorities involved.
“On Friday we did not do our “Walk the dog campaign”
We were washing dogs with children most came with their dogs and others that does not have dogs participated as we educate both children with/without dogs to ensure that we raise a community of ethical human beings that love unconditionally.
We were also graced by the presence of the SPCA. As we invited them to come rescue a animal in distress. They were very impressed with our approach to solve problems related to animal cruelty, abuse and negligence. All of our rescues were washed, and we also washed all of their blankets thanks to the Washing machine that was donated”
Having everyone develop a love of animals means there is far less cruelty and abuse. As children learn to understand an animal’s needs, they then educate their families too.
Part of the perks of being part of the walking club means children get to feed their dogs and get a meal themselves. Tebogo uses this to make sure everyone gets one good meal a week.
You can find out more about Soshanguve Animal Shelter and Educentre NPC via Facebook here. Tebogo is happy to chat with anyone wanting to get involved.
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