Dogs by Nature

This time we have an adorable three year old terrier as our Adventure Buddy. What a Mr. Nice Guy! Don't judge this pooch by his intense gaze, because he is really such a gentleman! He is just dying for some love and attention and would lie on your lap for as long as you let him :-) What I love about this guy is is calm demeanour and loving personality... my type of dog :->

I always try to share on this blog the dogs that have been at Centurion SPCA the longest, but also those that I would have loved to adopt myself. This guy fits both categories. One of the hardest things of being a photo volunteer at the SPCA is to practise restraint and not adopt all of them. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it), our municipal by-laws restrict Tshwane residents to 3 dogs and 3 cats per residential property. 

In the past few years many people shifted their support from the SPCA to "pro-life" or "no-kill" shelters as they call it. Which is good, because all shelters desperately need public support. But I must say that my opinion about the SPCA changed so drastically since I started as a photo volunteer a few months back. About 98% of dogs get adopted from their adoption kennels. Some dogs are overlooked for many many months and inevitably develop what they call "kennel stress". This involves rapid weight loss, general deterioration of their condition and listlessness and depression. Who would blame them? Six months to you might not seem like a long time, but in dog terms it equates to about five years!!! Under such circumstances it is definitely more humane to put such a poor dog to sleep. I know of dogs that have spent up to eight years in "no-kill" shelters. Is that fair towards them?

Please support your local SPCA in any way you can, whether it is by donating time or money or adopting a pet. We are looking for additional photo volunteers for their Facebook adoption album, so please contact me if you're interested :)