Mon 23 Tue 24 and Wed 25 May we had another sterilisation drive!
We had sterilised and vaccinated in total 98 animals.
Thank you to all members for your help! Without you we would not have managed to achieve this effective event.
On Sunday afternoon the setting up began, Bill, Jacolien, Anton, Johanna, Venessa, Marinda, Liesel, Chena and Charlene all went into Clanwilliam to start the big clean up set up operation. Not one of them actually live in Clanwilliam but they all came to help. They cleaned and scrubbed and fixed and patched and virtually transformed the show grounds into a make shift surgery. I was told that any dust to be seen would have been sterilised tooJ. Thank you team you did great! Thank you to you all who gave your valuable time on Sunday to come in to town to help with the start up. Sunday evening Natalie arrived at Oudrif with her bag of surprises. We thought that when we got there on Monday morning with six cats from the farm, all we had to do was put on the heaters and electric blankets and start.
Monday morning it was raining, those of us that came in from the farms were quite wet. The roads were wet with the first rains for the winter which made driving interesting. The hall was lovely and wet too, besides the hall being so big it leaked like a sieve! The holes in the roof were not small and we ran out of buckets, but we managed it and we had no electricity problems. Natalie brought 20meters of fleece with paw prints on to send home with the animals so they would sleep warm this winter. Natalie, Lynn and Anton Ferreira donated their electric blankets to keep the patients warm after surgery. The first day we sterilised 40 animals, Daggie and Charl were fresh and ready. Daggie once again proved that no mission is impossible, injecting feral cats that jump 8ft in the air to scratch you face, no problem! Natalie whipped out her second surprise she had ordered 100 luminous orange name tags for the patients ones that not even the big puppies were able to remove with their teeth. Venessa and Marinda took over the reception table and did the best job I've ever seen when it comes to keeping a record of everything that came in and out of the front door! Venessa was also ready to drive and fetch anything we needed. She had organised food and hot drinks too, this much needed sustenance kept us going. Anton helped to drive and pick-up and drop of animals that needed to be dropped and fetched. Natalie also had T-shirts printed for the team involved! Team CLAWS! The team was too busy on Monday and we forgot about the t's… At the end of the day, we packed up and setup for Tuesday morning.
Tuesday the roads were rivers, we had a slip and slide drive to Clanwilliam and when we got there Venessa had opened up again and Cheryl had fed the vets a good breakfast to prepare them for the day. There was more rain and more water to deal with but no vet or patients got wet, in fact the patients were so comfy and warm they did not want to go home form there warm heated recovery beds. We had extra help on Tuesday and the whole team was kitted out in their team CLAWS t-shirts- they looked great! Bill came in to help which lightened the load; he was on Heavy Dog Duty. Inside we had Natalie at the vet's table to assist where needed and Charlene, Chena and Jacolien at the patients every need. Bill went to fetch Mr Dale Morgan to show him what we were accomplishing. He was quite surprised to see the conditions under which we had to work and even went home to fetch his camera. He said there should be more money and privileges coming our way soon J the paper didn't pitch again. Thank you to those of you who did come to help us even though it rained. Thank you Cheryl for letting the vet's take over your kitchen we really appreciate you going the extra mile to make them feel comfortable and at home! They loved it! Thank you! Leesie and Charlene made great coffee!
Wednesday morning Team CLAWS gathered again, I was late with a load of animals but we quickly caught up and the vets were happy and settled. Lizette had managed to drive in to town on Wednesday morning when the rain had stopped and was able to come lend a hand again. We also had two strong young men arrive to help with Heavy Dog Duty, Thank you Rudi and Jacques It was much appreciated. Thank you! Once again Venessa had sandwiches for every need, vegan, vegetarian whatever your need! Natalie had to leave her post and let Lizette take over as she has a deadline and really is too busy to be here. She had jobs in CT and London to be done but she stayed in Clanwilliam to help us out – Thanks Nat! Sorry the ash cloud couldn't stop your flights… The vets finished and thanked us all – I got my stethoscope J . The rain had cleared, the vets and the Team were tired and 98 animals were sterilised. We did however forget that it was Margie's birthday… Sorry Margie and Happy Belated birthday!
While we were working to get this to run smoothly, Lynn helped us on the phone, we got our bank account changed to a steady account and a bank with lower bank charges. Thank you Lynn for your help with all the organising and on-call support, we missed you there. Thank you Anna Koeglenberg for fetching me in the pouring rain on Tuesday and going with me to the bank to sort out the changes, I love the car even with the doors that don't want to open J
Thank you Team CLAWS, Anton Ferreira, Lynn Ferreira, Georgia Sinclair, Cheryl Spilsbury, Venessa Ferreira, Bill Mitchell, Marinda Cloete, Charlene Cloete, Chena Petro, Jacolien Tekiso, Natalie Becker, Margie Smit, Leesie Jantjies, Liesel Hoffman, Lizette Burger, Anna and Joseph from the yellow Aloe, Rudi and Jacques. You were all a great help with everything you did, thank you for coming out in the cold wet weather and thank you for dealing with all the smells… Without you we would not have made this the success it was.
Have to thank Vetsol for their hard work and dong the great job that they do. Thank you for doing such amazing work and applying it where it is needed most. It's a difference you can see. See you later this year for the next adventure.
Dogs from nearby farms taking a nap
