The Purple Kennel Project provides cost-effective, eco-friendly dog kennels which are then donated to organisations that take care of township dogs in need.
In just 2 years, the Purple Kennel Project has furnished 1117 township dogs with new homes thanks to the help of donors and welfare organisations. The project has supported 36 different animal welfares with cost-effective kennels that the public donates to the organisations.
Samantha Chatham started the Purple Kennel Project in 2016 after meeting a carpenter on the roadside who had made beautiful kennels from old pallets. She had played with the idea of the project for a long time, being an animal lover herself and having supported animal welfare charities, she wanted to do something to make a difference.
The idea started formulating on a very cold, windy and rainy winter evening as she lay in her bed thinking of all the exposed dogs in the townships across Cape Town. She stopped on the roadside to order 5 kennels from the man, she had no idea if her idea would work or where she would find the money if it didn’t but she knew that moment was the time to try.
“We could have never imagined how quickly our project would take off… and in 5 short months, with the help of the generous sponsors and welfare organisations, we had sent 218 Kennels out into areas where they were needed most, making many woofers …(and cats) very happy, warm and dry. The rest they say is history…”
Each kennel is distributed with love and gets a personal badge that lists the donor and the organisation that helped pass it along to the families in need. They now send out at least 25 kennels a week for the duration of the donation season. Samantha’s right-hand man Luckmore handles all the logistics of the project alongside his full-time job.
This year they send out over 611 kennels, meaning they broke their record of just under 300 from the previous years. The best part is that if you donate a kennel, you can select an animal welfare organisation or leave it up to the discretion of the Purple Kennel Project who will make sure the animals in the most need get first priority.
The kennels replace corrugated sheets of metal or being chained to trees and offer a cool place to hide from the sun and heat or from cold winds and rains. They operate on a seasonal basis, so their season has ended for 2018 but they will open up their donation facility in mid-April 2019. We will keep you posted in the new year about their amazing cause.
You can see all the wagging tails of happy dogs getting their kennels here.
by 