Rescue dogs from Happy Yappers, a charity-driven rehabilitation centre in the Magaliesburg, stand to benefit from a variety of planned fundraising activities, including a pop-up shop and food stand at the Magalies Rock the Cradle festival from 24 -26 August 2018.
Happy Yappers rescues abandoned dogs from townships in the Magaliesburg area and runs an outreach programme to spay-neuter, feed, deworm, rehabilitate and rehome them.
The energy behind Happy Yappers is Bernadette Begg. The facility currently has around 100 dogs and three full-time employees who help with the maintenance of the property, as well as the caring of the beautiful pooches. In addition, there are a number of people helping with the rehabilitation and socialization of the dogs.
Abandoned dogs are fetched from all over the district, taken to the shelter, given love and veterinary attention. Some volunteers offer their time to help walk the Happy Yappers dogs on a daily basis.
“The work being done by the Happy Yappers team is invaluable. Like most charity projects, they need donations and extra hands to ensure the dogs are well taken care of, loved and given an opportunity to find a home” says Janet Diack, volunteer and dog-lover.
Long term plans include the establishment of a The Country Store as a shopping destination for visitors to the village, as well as making the Happy Yappers premises the home of Mountain Biking in the area with safe parking, planned routes and refreshments.
With the proceeds from the store and the track, the Happy Yappers team hope to build a free-run area for the dogs to be let out into a safely enclosed grass area where they can run off a lead – tasting freedom and the joy of space. Many of the dogs have never even seen grass.
Visit their Facebook page on https://www.facebook.com/happyyappers/