Twala Trust received an AKI Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant to provide food for 4 months of Doggy Tuesdays. Sponsored by Twala Trust, Doggy Tuesday is a free weekly community veterinary clinic and feeding program for rural dogs in the Goromonzi area in Zimbabwe.
Twala has run the Doggy Tuesday program for 8 years, during which time it has grown from 4 dogs attending the first clinic in 2014, to around 600 dogs now attending each week. Community members who bring their dogs to Doggy Tuesday tend to be either the elderly or children. It's remarkable to see the effort that people make to access this free care and food for their dogs, often walking many kilometers and patiently waiting for the veterinary team to check their dogs.
All dogs who attend Doggy Tuesday are provided with a nutritious meal (often their only substantial meal for the week). Besides supplying on an-site meal, Twala sends dogs home with supplementary biscuits. Prior to receiving AKI's grant, Twala was very worried that they would have to limit the number of dogs attending Doggy Tuesday – and were trying to determine how they would manage who would get a meal and who wouldn't--definitely creating many sleepless nights!
Providing food is just one part of Twala's commitment to better overall health and well-being of rural dogs. A free vet check with any subsequent required vet care, and a flea and tick treatment are also part of every Doggy Tuesday. To be eligible for food, a dog must be sterilized and vaccinated (both are provided for free), and they must be treated for parasites (Twala provides weekly dipping and de-worming).
Doggy Tuesdays also provide the perfect forum to educate people from the surrounding communities about animal welfare – firstly for their dogs, and then extending to cats, farm animals such as donkeys, goats and chickens, and how to manage interactions with wild animals.
The number of dogs (and sometimes a few cats) helped during Doggy Tuesday is amazing and shows how important Twala's work is.
During October's Doggy Tuesdays, Twala Trust.....
Fed on-site or provided supplementary feed in their homes for 2407 dogs!
Vaccinated 297 dogs, 4 puppies – this included a mass vaccination campaign for spirocircosis
Sterilised 9 dogs
De-wormed 19 dogs
They also treated dogs for the following:
1 pin removal
3 growth removals
1 rabid dog (euthanized)
1 skin cancer
4 distemper
5 mange
4 flea allergies
3 abscesses
1 myositis caused by biliary
3 spirocircosis
3 tick bite fever
7 dog fight wounds
3 transmittable venereal tumor
1 hip dysplasia
4 gastritis
1 ear infection
3 eye infections
1 fungal infection
3 kennel cough
1 urinary tract infection
1 broken hip from road traffic accident
1 gum disease
4 dogs and 1 puppy kept for supplementary feeding due to poor body condition
During September's Doggy Tuesdays, Twala Trust.....
Fed on-site or provided supplementary feed in their homes for 2361 dogs
Vaccinated 83 dogs, 2 puppies, 1 cat, 3 kittens
Sterilized 9 dogs, 2 cats
They also provided the following vet care:
1 leg amputation
1 mammary cancer removal
1 broken leg
1 skin cancer
1 distemper
4 mange
3 flea allergies
1 biliary
1 myositis caused by biliary
4 spirocircosis
2 tick bite fever
6 dog fight wounds
1 transmittable venereal tumor
1 hip dysplasia
4 growth removals
3 dogs kept for supplementary feeding due to very poor body condition
