From pop-up rescue dog adoption events all over Cape Town to a Franschhoek Tasting escape from lockdown, the team at Oscar’s Arc will stop at nothing to keep dogs and their owners happy (and sane).
After working around the clock to place every rescue dog in their adoption centre in foster care for the duration of lockdown, the dedicated dog whisperers are breaking frustrated pooches out for a day’s running, playing and barking to help dogs (and their owners) stay sane as we go into our fifth week of lockdown.
This is another fantastic fundraising initiative from Oscar’s Arc Trust, a non-profit organisation that brings dogs from shelters to locations where they are introduced to and interact with people.
Cape Town is a city of dog lovers, and a city loved by dogs because of the incredible outdoor life. Evenings in Deer Park and Sundays on Sunset Beach came to an end abruptly when South Africa went into lockdown to flatten the corona curve.
At a time when so many people are desperately trying to keep their families alive after lockdown shut down business and the informal trade that is the lifeblood of so many Capetonians, it may seem super indulgent, callous even, for privileged dog-owning suburbanites to worry about exercising their dogs. Try tell that to the hounds, though, as they pace in frustration around the property, the vegetable patch long uprooted.
Oscars Arc, the charity that has changed the face of animal welfare in SA, are collecting dogs for a day trip, the ‘Franschhoek Tasting Experience’, to run, play and bark to their hearts content on the charity’s property in Franschhoek where it runs an animal sanctuary.
Collection is between 6.30am and 8am to get to the farm by 9.30 and depart again at 3.30pm. The cost is R350 per dog (R550 for 2 dogs, R799 for three) for collection and drop-off in the CBD, Woodstock and Atlantic Seaboard. Add R50 for further afield. They take groups of between 10 and 12 dogs, with supervision by handlers all the time.
Overnight stays are also available, which includes two full days of fun, one night in a comfortable insulated container and a wash and brush (base price for one dog is R999, or R1499 for two).
Since 2017, Oscar’s Arc has brought thousands of dogs from often isolated and depressing dog shelters into the community to be adopted. Capetonians will have seen Oscar’s Arc’s ‘showroom’ at the V&A Waterfront, or one of their pop-ups at a garden nursery or on the Seapoint promenade.
For more info about the days out, fostering or adopting a dog email Bianca at [email protected]
Read: Hotel stay for Fifi that could save a shelter dog’s life