Dog and Cat Pad - It's All About Animal Wellbeing

Dog & Cat Pad consists of three principals, wife and husband team Gerda and Philip Kruger and they are supported by Gordon Struthers. Not content to just be animal lovers and owners, Gerda and Philip has been intimately involved with animal welfare over the years. Gerda’s first volunteer job for animals was “shaking a tin” at a shopping mall for a prominent animal welfare organisation in 1996. Thi

s lead to doing Sunday volunteer work at an animal shelter and as these things go, both Gerda and Philip eventually landed on the Board of the shelter. Gerda became Chairperson and served a total of 8 years on the Board. Philip served on the Board for 6 years and during this time attended an Animal Welfare Conference in Athens, Greece and spent a week at Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ Home in London, England to learn best practices from them. Gerda and Philip went on various rescue missions on behalf of the shelter and have a lot of horror stories to tell! Of course, there was also good things, nothing is as gratifying as seeing an owner re-united with a lost pet or finding the right home for an abandoned animal! The decision to withdraw from active service was not easy for either, but both felt that it was time for new blood on the Board and being that intimately involved with animal welfare takes it emotional toll after a while. You don’t just see the good, you end up seeing the worst of people. Both Gerda and Philip have adopted many cats and dogs over the years and are strong believers in adopting and not buying pets. They have never not had pets in the house and of the 11 dogs, 8 were rescues and of the 15 cats, 4 were rescues. Obviously, all have been sterilised! Health Comfort & Beauty for Animals (and people too...)