​On 14 November 2023 a little kitten was rescued from one of the Eskom storage facilities. Sadly the mommy cat died and this poor baby needed help.

​The kitten is being fostered by a kind family who came forward to help the moment the request went out on the community whatsapp groups. Little Popcorn had a little set back earlier this week with a bit of chest problems, but the vet reassured us that with treatment all should go well. We received very good feedback today. Popcorn is going from 3 weeks to 4 weeks and is doing very well

​To those who support on an on-going basis: Thank you so much for making a difference and are saving lives.

Our pets are happy and in great condition thanks to Anne-marie, Selina and Roselina. Without our staff, we cannot have a happy place for the pets rescued off the streets and out of abusive circumstances. In order to pay our staff, we rely on donations. Many may criticize because of the expense, but the reality is that nobody can afford to work full time for no pay. Just the cost of wages and salaries are R10 000 p/m and this amount excludes all other expenses. Please help keep this initiative alive and donate towards our monthly expenses. 

If you didn't know this: Harrismith Animal Shelter is a "no kill" shelter. What does this mean? It means that dogs and cats that simply cannot find a home will live in the shelter for the rest of their lives. In order to ensure that the shelter does not become a sanctuary, but rather remain a shelter, we need adoptions to take place on a regular basis so that we can continue to help pets in need and give them all the second chance to a great home and love they deserve. All of the dogs you see in these pictures have been sterilized, vaccinated and dewormed and they are in urgent need of homes. The longer they take up space in the shelter, the more pets can't be helped. Please adopt and motivate family and friends to adopt from shelters. 

To end off: These dogs are in great shape and well cared for thanks to the donations from our regular sponsors. Without the community's help in financial contributions and food we cannot be here. We thank you all for your participation and donations. You are making a difference.

​Thank you very much, Marius, Charlotte and kids for adopting Coco from us and for opening your hearts and home to her on Saturday. We believe that she will bring many smiles and loads of happiness to all of you.

​When Ruben told his employer that he so badly wanted a cat, she helped him with the adoption process. He even named his kitty after his employers mom who sadly passed away this year as he was very fond of her. Well Katy the kitty is now an indoor kitty as he does not want the neighbourhood dogs to get hold of her as he adores her. He tends to his employers dogs and cats when they are away so knows all about looking after furkids. Thank you Karen Sparks for helping a Shelter kitty to go to such an awsome home. Enjoy your baby Ruben.

​During the rainy season with thunder and lightning, Tammy a 6 month old pup slept out in the open with no protection and chained; all she could do was cry to make her fear known to all around her but no one cared except one person who begged us for help. A kind lady donated a kennel to make Tammy's living condition better but 2 months down the line she was completely closed up in that kennel, she could not lie down as the chain was too short also causing horrific marks on her neck. She was uploaded with the help of w/o Khumalo and Sgt.Lesenyeho from SAPS Harrismith. We thank you for your assistance, it is much appreciated.

​They were found by Josey at a college where she works surrounded by veld. These little babies were frozen as Harrismith temps are freezing at night. 

Not only were these two absolutely frozen, they were so very hungry and gobbled up all their food.

Dr Ingo at the Harrismith Diere Hospitaal did all the necessary checks and reassured us that the puppies should be fine and free of Parvo.

​It is lovely seeing the softer side of a man too. What men would not do for Daddys little girl who wanted this little fluff ball. Thank you Dr Mosoeu for adopting little Daisy, happy to hear that Daisy has a little girl who love and adore her.

Thank you all of you for supporting the Harrismith Animal Shelter and for adopting from us. Without the support of our community, we could not have saved all these beautiful kittens.

This post consists of a summery of Laine's journey with us from the very moment she was rescued till the day she was adopted by Ruben and Sarie. Click on "read more" to read her story, to watch video footage and see photos of her progress as she recovered.

Finding a new home for Laine wasn't an easy task. Not only has everyone become very much attached to Laine, but she does have a very special personality and we needed a home that could perfectly fit her profile and needs. We had a previous attempt at getting Laine adopted, but this didn't work and so Laine had to be transferred back to the shelter as Evelyn started her travels for her studies and didn't want Laine moving between homes. Laine needed stability and preferably a forever home. But, as always, Helene had faith and knew that the perfect home was out there and that it won't be long before Laine found a home, especially now that she is at the shelter and it is easier for people to meet her and interact with her when visiting the shelter to visit or to adopt a pet.

Laine was finally adopted in to the perfect home and family on 18 March 2023. A little while back Sarie and Ruben adopted Boeta, one of our Harrismith Animal Shelter puppies. Sadly they recently lost their older fur child to Cancer and decided to adopt from the shelter again. This couple chose Laine as Boeta’s new friend and sibling and it turns out that these two were a match made in heaven from day one.

The feed back we got is that the two enjoy playing together and that all is going well.
All of us at the shelter are extremely grateful to Ruben and Sarie for supporting us and giving a home to our doggies. From my personal side as Laine’s foster parent: This is pure proof that prayers do get answered. I asked for a home just like the one I see in the footage with lots of love, a friend for Laine and a big big garden where she can run and play and be happy as part of a loving family.
​
Ruben and Sarie: Thank you so much for opening your hearts and your home to Laine and for giving her the home she deserves. I trust she will bring a lot of joy to all of you and that your love is going to make of Laine a happier and healthier dog.

Just over 3 months ago Laine was rescued by this amazing lady, Elaine van Tonder from Animals in Great need in Harrismith, South Africa. She noticed through our publications that Laine was ready for "her new forever home" and didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to see Laine again.

What a happy day it was for both Elaine and Laine and what a privilege it has been it has been for us to be part of Laine's journey to recovery. Laine teaches much about love, gentleness and kindness, despite being through extremely tough times.

It is really amazing to see how much Laine has changed. Even her fur is smoother, softer and has changed colour.

Within only two months we have seen Laine go from listless and no will to live another day, to happy, healthy doggy on the mend. Laine still has a way to go for her muscle structure to develop, but, overall she is a happy, healthy dog looking for her brand new forever home.

Laine has become known as Lainosaurus, the Queen of Africa. She is a real "madam" who loves attention.

​Laine is still in foster care after she was chained to a tree, totally abandoned and left to die without food or water. 
​
Laine is urgently looking for a forever home and is more than ready for adoption. We would really like to home Laine directly from her foster home in to her new home as it may be too traumatic for her to go back to the shelter.
She is already sterilized. She will get all three vaccinations and has been vaccinated against rabies. She has also been dewormed.

She is good with other dogs (would love young and energetic new fur siblings)
She is also good with cats and loves children.

Basic Shelter rules and adoption fees do apply. Please contact us on +27 (63) 795-9007 or Evelyn on 0832945616 to setup an appointment to meet and adopt Laine.
​
If you cannot adopt, please share with friends. The right home is out there for Laine, we just need to find it.

Overall Laine is healing beautifully. As with all dogs who come in as ill as Laine was, there are some set backs, but, overall there are more and more good days and Laine has also started enjoying driving around town in the back of Evelyn and Xavier's Ford.

Love, healthy nutritious food, aromatherapy and rest is paying off big time for Laine. She had a visit to the vet on 29 November and dr Wim is very happy with her progress. Ears needed a thorough clean and she got her first vaccination. But, nothing else needed to done. Laine's blood works are showing that she is on the mend.

After two days of mostly sleeping, eating, going to the toilet as needed and aromatherapy, Laine's overall attitude is different. She is moving a lot easier, enjoying her nutritious home prepared therapy food and loves aromatherapy. Laine also started showing interest in her surrounds and took her time inspecting her piece of garden which will be her home while she recovers.

Laine was taken in to foster care by Evelyn and Xavier. On Laine's first day she was bathed and treated for ticks and fleas. From the footage below, one can see that Laine was very frail, tired and seems to be in pain when moving. She will need lots of love and care over the next couple of weeks in order for her to recover emotionally and physically. As an Animal Aromatherapist & Holistic Therapist, Evelyn started treating Laine immediately to help her overcome all past emotional trauma and will also be giving her food therapy. Evelyn also enjoys working hand in hand with an holistic veterinarian, Dr Marisa Slabber for Fourways, Johannesburg and Dr Marisa Slabber agreed to help and assist with guidance and advice as needed.

Laine is released from hospital to the Harrismith Animal Shelter. But, she is very frail and have lost her will to live. We decided that it will be best that she be placed in foster care from where she will receive the love and care she needs until she is fully recovered and ready to be adopted.

​Laine was chained, with no food, no water, abandoned by her human family and left to die a very cruel death. She was discovered on 17 November 2022 by one of Elaine van Tonder's team members from Animals in Great Need.

Blog Post written and compiled by Evelyn Duperron - HAS Media Co-Ordinator and Committee Member - Date: 17 November 2022 - 18 March 2023
Blog Publish date: 08/04/2023 

Harrismith Animal Shelter Facebook Page updates and posts:

Suzi was locked up in a very dark and scary place since 2018. She is adopted by Fanie Terblanche who is seeing to it that she gets lots of love and light daily.

Suzi's story was published in the Happy Tails Magazine today and is called "Saving Suzi". It is a beautifully written article and there are some beautiful professional photos taken by Vanessa Bentley Photography.

But, before we share the link, let us first thank those who have rescued, fostered, worked hard to get Suzi adopted in to the perfect home and who made this article possible:

Our gratitude goes to:

Helene Haworth (Harrismith Animal Shelter Committee Member - Frontline Administrator) for rescuing Suzi and getting her out of that hell hole. Helene is also very well known as the "voice of our animals" in Harrismith and nobody could have written a better article than she did. 

Fanie Terblanche for adopting Suzi and giving her the love and home she deserves and thank you for contributing to the Happy Tails Magazine article "Saving Suzi". It was truly heart warming to read how Suzi has been adapting and settling in to her new home and to read that your little family is now complete. We wish you all many years of happiness together filled with loads of Blessings.

Dee Ivings and the Happy Tails Magazine Team for publishing Suzi's story and the beautiful professional photos and making Suzi's story available to the whole world.

Dr Wim Slabber and Dr Kayleigh-Jean Legge for fostering Suzi in to excellent health and getting Suzi groomed. We are also very grateful to both of you because of the damage to Suzi's eyes and our concerns on how this would affect her ability to socialize with other animals. Thanks to both of you and your fur children, Suzi recovered beautifully on all levels of her overall wellbeing.

Monique de Clerk from Muddy Mutts for ensuring that Suzi is all beautiful again and Dr Wim Slabber for sponsoring Suzi's groom. 

Ria Slabber (Dr Wim's mom) for finding the perfect home for Suzi and doing all the leg work back and forth from Harrismith to Randburg.

Bethlehem SPCA for assisting Helene with the rescue.

Everyone who shared Suzi's story on Facebook. 

To our subscribers: Thank you for your support and following our blog. We encourage you to read the article on the "Happy Tails" Website. We are also including their page link. Go ahead and like and share their page too, here are the links.

Happy Tails Website:
https://www.happytailsmagazine.co.za/happy-tales/saving-suzie/

Happy Tails Facebook Page:
​https://www.facebook.com/happytailsmagazine.co.za
​

THE LONG Awaited update..ADOPTION from Harrismith to Randburg
We are very happy to share Suzie's new life with you as it's a far cry from the horrible hell hole she came from. She has now found her way around her new home as she has poor eyesight, plays with her new brother snoopy until both are flaked out.
Fanie Terblanche you are an exceptional man for adopting Suzie and taking such good care of her, taking her for walks, taking her to a restaurant and loving her. You have opened up a brand new world for her that she is so deserving of..a huge Thank you from all of us at Harrismith Animal Shelter. Enjoy Suzie and Snoopy who is also a rescue.

Suzie has been in foster care at a loving animal friendly home for just over a month now where her beautiful soul was bared for all to see although she had to learn how to play with other dogs as a brand new unknown world has opened up for her. She has so much love to give to her human who makes a fuss of her.Suzie is now ready for her forever home but unfortunately not good with cats or small dogs. She will also be needing eyedrops for the rest of her life. If you are that special person who can give her the love and care that she is so deserving of, kindly contact the Shelter. Home check and adoption fee applies. A huge Thank you to Dr Wim who is fostering Suzie and did all her vetting.

Rescued on 17 May 2023 by a kind community member and taken to the Vet from where they were cleared of Parvo and diseases and then taken in at our shelter. These two are now named "Abby and Gabby" and will need good homes. ​

Adoptions only cover sterilization, vaccinations and deworming of a pet and if we are really lucky, we may have a very small amount left to cover other medical expenses or food, but this is very seldom the case as quite a few of the pets we save come in sick / injured and need further medical care. Animals also get injured at the shelter while playing outside or trying to dig a whole in the fence.  This is why we are always looking for creative ways to raise funds to keep our doors open to an Animal Shelter for the community which is very much needed in Harrismith. ​

​Without the loyal support which we have been receiving from our community we would certainly not be able to run and manage an animal shelter in Harrismith and sadly no animal shelter can survive on funds received from adoptions only. The other sad part: Unfortunately adoptions do not take place daily as and how animals are taken in, so our shelter becomes full and we cannot take in any more animals as we are a "no kill" shelter.  We know and understand that responsible animal lovers adopt only as and how they want or need or can afford pets in their lives, in the meantime, the animal shelter provides services to the animals on the premises and these service are not FREE OF CHARGE as many may believe. Like all other institutions we have fixed running costs monthly which far exceed the proceeds received from adoptions and we need to continue to reach out to the community in order to raise funds to do what we do daily: Take in / rescue abandoned sick animals / dumped animals as space and finances allows, and provide medical attention to these fur babies and provide proper care for them from the shelter.

The Harrismith Animal Shelter also supports other animal rescue projects outside of the shelter as and how we can and this is also often done at the shelter's expense or that of a sponsor / foster homes. Posts you can read concerning these practices are Laine. You can also read more about  Tammy that recently came in as well. And then there is Houdini who came in earlier this year and who is still at our shelter. His collar was so tight around his neck that it actually grew in to his flesh and started rotting and the vet had to treat him. The poor dog had stitches all the way around his neck, recovered very well at the shelter and is still a resident waiting for his forever home.  

In addition to rescueing and keeping animals safe, loved and fed we still have the following fixed expenses:

• Food - Which is donated from our donors as and how they can afford to purchase for the shelter but, we do have to purchase extra food when donations in food are slow. Some consider this food as FREE OF CHARGE and when I hear someone say out loud that shelter food is free, I want to scream blue murder.
• Cleaning supplies - Which gets donated, but sometimes we need to buy extras
• Electricity
• Insurance
• Building repairs and maintenance and upgrades - i.e.: New Kennels, roof leak repairs, etc..
• Vehicle repairs and maintenance and fuel
• Lawnmower repairs, maintenance and fuel
• Casual staff as needed to keep the premises neat, clean, tidy and pet friendly or to stand in when needed.
• Staff to clean kennels and camps, and to feed and water animals 7 days a week
• Frontline administrators who will ensure that adoptions take place, that the animals are cared for, that animals receive medical care as needed, help with fund raisers and that rescues may take place on a continuous basis and who will treat animals like if they are in a little happy sanctuary, and not just in an animal shelter.
• Bedding and blankets - Mostly donated by our community
• Vodacom phone which is sponsored
• Fuel which is sponsored by local garages, but sometimes too little - fuel is used for both our vehicle and the lawnmower
• Etc.​

​When sponsors deliver food, our dogs are overjoyed and grateful knowing that they will be fed daily thanks to our community's donations. Food in this photo was donated by Mr Mohammed Ismail - Thank you.

​To end off:

We here at the Harrismith Animal Shelter want to give a very special thanks to all of you who have been supporting this shelter whole heartedly and as how and how you have been able to. We know, that for many of our supporters money doesn't come easily and that it is a very big effort (if not sacrificing from your own table) on your part to help us keep the shelter doors open and without your contributions, big and small, there certainly will be no animal shelter in Harrismith today. YOU ARE ALL HEROES! YOU HAVE ALL HELPED US SAVE ANIMALS! THANK SO MUCH!

We do hope that in the future more people will adopt more frequently so that together we can reach out to more animals out there that are suffering at the hand of cruel humans. We also hope that with your continued support and love for fur babies that our shelter will grow from strength to strength and that we will be able to provide improved services to our community, the animals within the shelter and the animals outside of the fences of the shelter.

Regards

HAS Committee