Cape Town – A Khayelitsha couple, Masakhane and Zukile Sotayisi, have opened a pet grooming business in order to offer a more accessible and affordable service to pet owners in the area.
Masakhane, an opera singer and theatre creative who performs with the international Cape Town based company Isango Ensemble, said he had always been passionate about the well-being of animals.
Sotayisi said that he realised that Mandela Park didn’t have dog washing companies freely accessible to community members, which inspired him to start up his business.
“I’ve always been a pet person, so establishing Pet Wash aligned with the love I have for pets. My brother and I started this initiative by bathing our own pets in a big bubble bath. Shortly after, I began to wash the neighbours’ dogs, which led to more and more people coming forward to have their dogs washed.”
Sotayisi said that the pet wash was exactly what the community needed and that soon dozens of unkempt, flea-infested dogs were being brought in numbers for regular washes.
“With Regal Pet Health as one of our sponsors, there are good things coming soon. We really are looking to expand with our own mobile unit so we can reach out to more communities to ensure that all pets are well taken care of.”
Community member and regular customer, Sindiswa Dlamini, owner of a dog called BeautyK, said the pet wash was a great convenience to the community.
“For just R30, she gets a full wash. She is a happy baby and I am a happy mommy. I used to always complain that washing my dog myself was a mission, until I was informed by a colleague about pet wash in Khayelitsha. I was so relieved to find that it was close to the vet I take my puppy to.”
Dlamini said that having a local pet wash in the area encouraged people to take better care of their pets and keep them clean. She added that as a pet owner she felt more at ease knowing that she could always call Masakhane for advice when her puppy is acting strange.
Weekend Argus