Volunteer

Volunteer With FurKidz in South Africa!

THE NEED:

South Africa is a beautiful country with an amazing wildlife and a well established and safe tourist network. The cities are big, vibrant and exciting, busy with the typical life of any metropolis anywhere in the world. 

But within each city and town are the townships, large ghettos, that house hundreds of thousands of migrant workers and unemployed families. Passing through a typical impoverished township, one of the first things you will notice – beyond the obvious startling poverty – is the abundance of cats and dogs.

Within these high density and socially complicated environments cats and dogs breed freely and live with no supervision or control. Dog fighting is popular and animal abuse is widespread and de-criminalized.

There is network of welfare organizations in South Africa dedicated to this massive problem with 30 Animal Shelters in the Cape Town area alone. Each of these organizations receives and rescues an average of 40 to 100 animals per month. The need for suitable homes for these rescues is acute and extensive exposure is the only way to increase adoptions and save lives. The only alternative to re-homing is euthanasia and due to the high numbers of incoming animals and the limits of shelter accommodation, the monthly numbers are staggering.

Unfortunately a substantial amount of South Africans still buy their pets from so called backyard breeders or pet shops thus exacerbating the overpopulation problem. With all this in mind, FurKidz was created.

THE RESPONSE:

FurKidz is a non-profit cyber-shelter, founded to assist all animal shelters across South Africa in re-homing their animals.

• To create, maintain and provide an online database of homeless animals in Southern Africa
• To increase South African public awareness to the large amount of homeless animals
• To promote the adoption of shelter animals with a view to eliminating euthanasia of healthy animals
• To support animal welfare organizations in Southern Africa through the provision of resources, services and activities
• To function as a platform of engagement for animal lovers, adopters, animal welfare organizations, shelters and SPCA's
• To generate and distribute funds to homeless animals and animal welfare organizations in Southern Africa

THE JOB:

FurKidz Volunteers are fully integrated into the day-to-day business of the organization and fulfill the below tasks depending on their preferences and skills:

• Visiting animal welfares throughout South Africa
• Taking pictures / filming video clips of shelter animals
• Picture and Video Editing
• Handling / interacting with shelter animals/ Assessment of shelter animals (personality, breed, age)
• Uploading of information / posting of ads
• Writing of pet related articles / Preparation and posting of daily news and events
• Finding, collating, writing of newsletter content
• Receiving and handling of email enquiries
• Administering the Lost & Found section / Administering the Happy Tails section
• Preparing of regular adoption updates
• Organizing Fundraising and other Events

Duration: 1 – 12 Months
Start: throughout the year / flexible

ACCOMMODATION:

FurKidz operates from a 40ha bushveld estate in Dinokeng South (25km from Pretoria). 

The name Dinokeng - a place of rivers - is derived from the languages of the Batswana and Bapedi who traditionally made this region their home. Dinokeng lies in the catchment area of the Olifants and Limpopo Rivers - which means, according to some African cultures, that this is a sacred place with healing powers.

Lying in the cleft of a valley, between two small hillocks, The Manor house is the citadel of the Estate, a Thatch Haven within a safety fenced area of 1,5 acres with many rooms, a large kitchen, library, lounges and fire place.

For nature lovers, Dinokeng gets you straight into the bush. For those who revel in history, it is a blast from the past. The cultural richness and diversity of the area is remarkable. Afrikaners, Batswana, Bapedi and Ndebele people are only some of the groups in this diverse tapestry. All of this and much, much more is almost at your doorstep. 

The 'Bush', as South Africans call it, is a lush bonsai-like natural garden of thousands of trees, hundreds of bird types, many different wild buck, and elusive but very present Jackals. Monkeys scurry through the forest playing in the trees. The terrain is full of hills and slopes and the wild hens and the noisy guinea fowl race over the rocks, past the trees and cactus'. At night the owls are active and out and about hunting for prey.

The large 400ha Roodeplaat dam is only 5km away. The Dam is home to a variety of wild life such as Zebra, Kudu, Impala, Warthog, Waterbuck, Blue-wildebeest, Common Duiker, Steenbok and Black-backed Jackals.

Over 170 species of birds have been recorded in the Roodeplaat Reserve, the most interesting of which include the Grey lourie, Woodland whoopoe, White-breasted cormorants, Crested barbet and Red bishop.

For more details about our volunteering program and applications contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it