Lunch to raise funds for animal hospital

Dr Natasha Clark and four-year-old mix breed, Pokolina.

Pokolina recently arrived at the Animal Rescue Organisation clinic in Philippi with a broken leg. Her owners are not sure what happened to her according to veterinarian Dr Natasha Clark.

“Like many of our clients, they do not have fencing and Pokolina wondered out for the day. When she came back she was limping. They quickly brought her to our mobile clinic,” she said.

“These simple breaks are something we see often with our patients. They’re mostly easy to treat, however they are costly too. This is because we cannot send the dog’s home while they are still bandaged. We need to keep a close eye on their recovery. In the past we’ve sent dogs home with strict instructions not to let the bandage get wet but because of the living conditions of many of our clients this proves difficult. The bandages get wet, the wound gets infected. Then we have an even bigger problem to deal with. So standard practice it so keep these dogs for six to eight weeks. This means we have taken on the cost of treatment, surgery, pain meds, plus the housing and feeding of these dogs for weeks at a time. As you can imagine this adds up,” said Dr Clark.

Fundraising manager with the organisation, Lindsey Concer said these costs are covered by donors and fundraising events. Among them is the annual charity lunch hosted for over 20 years and this year to be held on Friday September 9 at 12.30pm at the Wild Fig Restaurant in Mowbray. The organisation has not been able to host the event for the past two years due to the Covid pandemic.

The master of ceremonies is Smile FM’s Lindy Lehto and guest speaker, Claire Taylor, a marine animal welfare specialist from the Two Oceans Aquarium. Guests will tuck into a three-course vegetarian meal with sponsored wine from Lanzerac Wine Estate. There are also goodie bags, lucky draws and raffle prizes to be won. All funds raised will go to covering the costs of the organisation’s hospital and helping animals in need.

The cost is R600. To book, contact events@animalrescue.org.za