There are so many reasons to adopt don’t shop. Mainly because you help break the cycle of pet overpopulation. Adopting from a shelter helps weaken the pet overpopulation cycle. Each year 8 to 12 million dogs, cats, and birds are euthanized because there are simply not enough homes for them.
We asked two of our Hero Rebels how and why they adopted, and the stories are something that will stay with you forever.
Tanita Calitz: Khloe
I will never forget the day we came across Khloe on one of our Soutpan outreaches.
I can actually say she found us and not the other way around. We were in one of the streets busy with all the hungry and emaciated animals with their owners. It was chaos, handing out food, deworming, replacing wires around the animal’s neck with collars, educating so that the animals would hopefully have more water, food, and warm sleeping space, and then in between picking one tear or two.
There in the distance Khloe, who was tied to a very heavy chain in the hot sun, wormed her skinny body through an opening in the wire as big as a 250ml can of soft drink and tried to get as close to us as possible. Luckily, Elri and Carien (Outreachers) spotted her.
When we got there the Little Body was so excited to see us and she just wanted to be rubbed. She was so grateful for the freshwater, the treats, and meats because in her bowl was just hard-burnt porridge. We also came across two of her babies who unfortunately did not survive the circumstances. The only form of shelter was an open-cut zinc drum, which gets fiery hot during the day and freezing cold in the evening.
My heart broke for her and I asked Zelmarie (Outreacher) if I could just take her. Because her owner was nowhere in sight, we may not take her without his permission. We later heard he only comes home every 2nd weekend and that's all when she gets food. No one in the area wanted to come near her because she lost all her hair due to scabies.
After the outreach, I send one of my dogs' cages with Suretha (a regular outreach person in Bloemfontein) to sit down for Khloe the next day. Right, there turned Khloe's happiness. The owner was there and told Suretha she could take her.
We decided to take Khloe to the SPCA first because I was scared for my dogs because scabies is contagious. On Tuesday I called the SPCA to let them know that I would like to adopt her as soon as she is healthy. On Wednesday I went to complete the application forms and Zelmarie and I went to visit Khloe in her cage where she was in quarantine. Khloe recognized us immediately and she pressed herself against us to be rubbed. Just then I promised Khloe that I would pick her up soon.
On Friday, the SPCA let me know that my home check was successful and I could pick up Khloe. I paid my R750, which included Khloe's Deworming, chip, and being fixed. They also gave me the rest of her medication to treat her burn disease.
So, we went home with Khloe and everything was strange to her. She did not know grass, nor the freedom to run and explore the whole yard, she was too scared to come into the house, we literally had to beg her, she crushed her food as if it were her last, but the love and attention she could not get enough of. It was one of my favorite moments.
Khloe means' 'blooming' in Greek and she definitely blossomed into a beautiful gentle and loyal dog. She's happy with the least, we as humans could learn so much from her.
She’s one of the few animals who got a second chance, I'm glad we can give it to her. It's a bittersweet situation because one can’t help but feel sad about those who will never have it.
Gert and Mariana Janse van Rensburg: Hougaard, Angel and George
Gert and Mariana have had many animals in their lifetime, but never adopted. Until Mariana started working at the local vet. As a family they wanted their next dog to be a Boxer. A breeder came in with a litter of boxer puppies for their vacations, six weeks old, Hougaard laying under all of his brothers and sisters, they were stepping on him, he was also very small compared to the others. On the next visit, all the puppies had parvo. All the puppies made it. Hougaard was the weakest. His buyer pulled out, and the breeder didn’t want him. Mariana stepped up and said she will take him. When Hougaard was well, he went home to the Janse van Rensburgs household at 8 weeks. He was very small and did not look like an 8-week boxer puppy should. He was skinny and small. But some good food and a lot of love and attention and he are now one of the big kids on the block. He runs and plays as a normal dog should. Looking back at where he started you would not say it’s the same puppy, they decided to take home.
Angel and George also came to them through the local vet. Angel was an emotional stability parrot at the local mental institution. The patients loved her; they would walk around with her on their shoulders the whole day. The main nurse was her caretaker. When the said nurse left her job, she could not leave Angel behind as nobody would be able to take care of her. She asked the vet to put her down as she could not find Angel a home. Mariana was called, as she and her husband have a lot of love for parrots. They went to fetch her, and know she and Hougaard are best friends. She always sneaks him treats after she finished eating.
George had a very different path than the other birds they have adopted (They have 4 in total) George was a shop parrot, sitting in a cold mini-market every day. Many people seeing him, seeing how he looked but never said or did anything. Again, the local vet made a call to Gert and Mariana. They drove out of town for George, stopped at the shop, and were saddened by the sight. George did not have a feather on his body, only his head. He pulls out his feathers, due to stress. The shop owner gave them the bird, clearly not caring what happened to the parrot. George is happy and healthy, and still fairly young from what they guess. He picks up new words very easily and talks nonstop. He still pulls out his feathers, the vet says it’s the same as a person that bites their nails. George is stress-free now, but still careful of who is around him. When I visited him last month, he was perfectly happy with me around when I had my glasses on and my hair was pulled back, when my hair has blown out and I had no glasses, he was afraid and got back in his cage. It broke my heart to think what someone did to him that he felt he had to hide.
We here at Rebel Stories hope that every animal in a shelter will find a warm home before they leave us. Unfortunately, many animals die in the cage we are waiting in, never knowing love. If you can adopt, foster, or donate to your local shelters. One take-out meal for you is a bag of food for one animal per month.
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