Cape Town - In celebration of World Animal Day, dog lovers could have their pick of man's best friend at the dog adoption at @Frits Dog Hotel in Castle Street, Cape Town.
There were mixed breeds and German Shepherds wagging their tails in the hope that they would be adopted at the Woof Project. Joanne Lefson has created a shelter for 20 dogs for people to adopt if they sense love at first lick. “We want to inspire the public to hopefully adopt a dog they fall in love with,” said Lefson, the dog rescuer and founder of the Woof Project.
Lefson said Woof Project is an initiative of Oscar's Arc, which started in March.
The project is dedicated to inspiring the public to adopt dogs and save their lives. Lefson said this project was initiated to transform the adoption status quo in the Western Cape.
“Oscar's Arc was inspired by my dog Oscar, a dog I adopted from a shelter. I adopted him when nobody knew he existed. This initiative is a lasting legacy of the dog that changed my life.”
A little over 2 500 are adopted from an estimated 25 000 that enter the eight main "kill" shelters each year.
This results in a low adoption rate of 12 percent with the unfortunate reality being that most shelter dogs never get out alive.
“The misconception that people have is that shelter dogs are damaged in some way, when they are actually great dogs, healthy animals that need a home.”
Lefson said the dogs will be available to view Monday to Friday between 12.30pm and 2pm. “During weekends, more dogs are ready for adoption at the mobile dog adoption unit over all holidays and weekends. The initiative ensures that the dogs are sterilised, vaccinated and ready to go to their new homes.”