Zambezi Animal Welfare Services - ZAWS

17/06/2024

Meet Monique, picked up off the street yesterday. People are throwing out puppies like rubbish. Their chances of survival on the streets are very low, especially with the cold cold nights we have now. Thankfully a good samaritan picked her up & she's got food & water & a warm place to sleep.

16/06/2024

Meet Steve. He was rescued on Wednesday after falling into someone's rubbish pit.

I'm sure he is yet another victim of this habit of shifting and abandoning dogs. This is a common issue in Livingstone, does it happen anywhere else?

He's got a long road to recovery but we're optimistic he can do it. We need extra blankets and old tyres to keep Steve warm as most nights we have no power for the heat lamps. Please help if you can or donations of dog or cat food, meat, chicken, mealie meal or rice would also be amazing.

Thank you to the person that sent 500kw yesterday but no name showed on the airtel message.

Donations can go to Airtel Money 0977 681741, PayPal [email protected], Stanbic Bank Livingstone Branch 9130002075060 or GoFundMe https://gofund.me8e6f2cd6

He's called Steve as we tasked staff member Steve to think of a name but he took too long so somehow the name Steve stuck for the dog!

Thank you always.

11/06/2024

Meet Lion and Scooby, two more dogs abandoned by an owner that shifted. Lion - the long haired female - is confident, while Scooby is cautious, but they are both happy, friendly dogs. They are very bonded so need to be rehomed together. Can you give these gorgeous dogs a loving home?

09/06/2024

There is nothing wrong with this dog that good food and a simple treatment can't fix, yet the owner wanted to throw him into the local sewer ponds because of "illness". Lucky for Simba, a caring person stopped this from happening, and even better, his rescuer wants to adopt him.

Thanks to the kind person who donated the fleece jacket (yes, turned it inside out!) Simba is a nervous but sweet and calm dog and his future looks bright.

08/06/2024

FOUND DOG. Please let me know if you are or know the owner. Proof of ownership required - council & vet papers & photos.

The dog is badly injured & currently being cared for at the shelter.

02/06/2024

Hunger is really beginning to bite. Four starving & dehydrated pups were brought to the shelter yesterday. Sadly the little black & white pup Kisha didn't survive. He was just skin & bones & very anaemic.

We are working on more ways to help our community and their pets. We know there's a rocky road ahead.

Thank you so so much to everyone who donated in the last few days. I hope I have contacted everyone personally to say thank you but there are a few donations to mobile money that didn't have a name and one donation to the bank account that had a name but I don't have a number. Your support, kindness & generosity lifts us up to keep doing what we do.

If you haven't yet donated please consider doing so, every little bit helps.

Airtel Money 0977 681741
PayPal [email protected]
Stanbic Bank 9130002075060 Livingstone Branch
GoFunfMe https://gofund.me/8e6f2cd6

Thank you.

28/05/2024

Hi everyone, I’ll be upfront and say that this is a plea for help. Firstly thank you to everyone who helps us in every way. I really appreciate you so much.

You may not know but Zambia is facing unprecedented challenges at the moment, particularly in Southern Province. Drought, almost total crop failures, prices of staple foods and fuel doubling and electricity being switched off for now 12 hours a day (which will no doubt increase soon) means that everyone is under severe pressure. As a result, almost every day people are bringing dogs to us that they can no longer feed and care for. We understand. If you can’t feed your children properly, an extra mouth is a serious burden. Others are just abandoning their dogs. We’ve found dogs tied to trees on the farm, dumped in sacks, or just wandering around, clearly lost and starving.

Cats and kittens are also being neglected and abandoned. Thanks to our work in our local community, many children are bringing abandoned kittens to the shelter. Previously they would have been stoned to death or thrown to dogs for fun.

The shelter is beyond full and every day the pressure increases. Every day we have to feed and care for 72 dogs and 39 cats, feed our staff and volunteers, pay water, electricity, fuel, and a whole list of meds. I kid you not, everything now costs about double what it cost last year.

Every day people bring their dogs to the shelter asking for help with care and feeding of their dogs, which we never refuse. We keep stocks of vaccines and meds for not only our shelter animals but also for as many animals in the community as we can manage. Our goal is to help people care for their animals which in turn improves community health and safety. Vaccinated, well cared for dogs make for safer communities. We are truly delighted that people come to us asking for help and advice. We never want to let them down.

As well as the shelter, we do village outreach work, we have set up football and netball clubs, we sensitise on conservation as we have elephants coming to the farm and last year there were 4 deaths from human elephant conflict in the area around the farm. We are trying our best to make the world a kinder and better place. When we have seen families in dire need struggling to feed themselves and their pets we have supplied food parcels.

In truth, we are struggling to meet our basic operation costs, despite the continued generosity of our donors. The increase in price of dog food has hit particularly hard. Only one dog food distributor makes donations, and that is probably only 1% of what we need. Even without the current crisis, we are in a very challenging position. We know we need to find a solution to the power crisis, and the only way is solar. Unless we get a solar system to power our fridges, we are not going to be able to keep the meat that is donated, we are not going to be able to keep vaccines, we are not going to be able to have security of water supply.

My staff have families to feed too and I believe that in order for my staff to show compassion and kindness to others, it is important they are cared for. They are a great group of people – its not just me saying that – every visitor to the shelter comments on what a great team we have.

As for me – I try not to show the stress but I have to say it is beginning to be overwhelming. I walked around the shelter the other day, just quietly by myself, looking at all these beautiful healthy animals and wondered what is going to happen when the money and the food runs out. Would I have to euthanise healthy animals because I can no longer feed them? How would I choose? Its unthinkable, but yet……. I am having to think those thoughts. I have never euthanised a healthy animal. I have never euthanised an animal for lack of space or money. I have always made a plan but right now I fear we are about to hit a gigantic brick wall, and I don’t know what the plan will be. I have used up a lot of my savings to keep the organisation going and the current economy means that there is not much opportunity to sell the few things I have left of value.

I decided to write this very long post (I’m sure all FB guidance tells you not to) to lay it on the line. It is bringing a lot of emotion to the surface. It costs about $2,500 a month to operate the shelter and community projects and we are looking at a solar system costing around $2,000. Please help us if you can in any way. No donation is too small. Make room in your home and your heart for a new furry friend. Buy a book from Kubu Café to read by torchlight as the money from sales comes to ZAWS. Put an extra tin of cat food in your shopping trolley for us. Every little bit helps and adds up to a much bigger picture and we just can’t keep doing what we do without more support.

Thanks for getting to the end of this marathon and for your kindness and understanding.
Donations can go to Mobile Money/E-wallet 0977681741(Airtel)
Stanbic Bank Livingstone A/c 9130002075060 Branch Code 041017 Livingstone SWIFT SBICZMLX A/c name Zambezi Animal Welfare Services
PayPayl: [email protected]
GoFundMe https://gofund.me/8e6f2cd6

26/05/2024

Little Cuthbert now has a playmate his own size! He likes to go talk to the big dogs when he can but now he has Sepo to play with. She's a little bit bigger than him but he's still boss pup!

11/05/2024

We were called to pick up this lost dog yesterday.

Please get in touch if you are or know the owner.

As always, proof of ownership required.

08/05/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/DBzWTpT46xC78VcP/?mibextid=qi2Omg

Our annual online auction is now live!!!
Some incredible items and experiences to be snapped up! 👏👏🫏🫏
https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/2024worlddonkeyday

30/04/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/6eMuvkf3mGMT3839/?mibextid=xfxF2i

KUBU CAFE@…absolutely brilliant novels and factual books just in and for sale.
All proceeds go to ZAWS ( Zambezi Animal Welfare Services)
With grateful thanks to the Sopper Family who donated the new books.
On Kabompo Rd...next to Fire Brigade.

28/04/2024

Four of the five pups we rescued yesterday. They feel so good they are even wagging their tails in their sleep.

27/04/2024

Five puppies rescued today. The tiny white & brown one was thrown at me (literally) by his drunk owner when I was checking on another dog. I picked up the pup & refused to give him back. I then did what I never usually do - I had to buy the pup to save him. The owner boasted he was worth more as he had already cut the ears and tail. After some debate and a lot of support from neighbours, I paid 19kw to keep the pup.

During the morning we signed 3 more dogs up for spaying, helped a pregnant dog who had been beaten on the head by a neighbour and checked up on several adopted dogs in their new homes. Oh, and I got distracted by some dogs and drove my car into a ditch. All good!!

23/04/2024

Today's outpatient was Spot. He was hit by a car either last night or early this morning.

His young owner brought him to us & we immediately rushed to the vet. Sadly Spot's internal injuries were too severe so we let him go peacefully.

No doubt Spot was a victim of selfish & careless driving. How I wish that driver could see how he broke a young boy's heart today.

20/04/2024

Where would this caring little boy go if there was no ZAWS ?

Every week we help dozens of dogs ( and occasionally cats) brought to us by their young owners.

Of course we help the animal - here we cleaned up W**d's wounds (yes she is called W**d!) - but we grab the opportunity to talk about good care & feeding, exercise, love and play. W**d was dipped, dewormed and is now registered for our next spay/neuter campaign.

Please join us in our mission to create a kinder world. You can donate in the following ways:

Stanbic Bank 9130002075060
Airtel money 0977 681741
PayPal [email protected]

15/04/2024

Spot is such a clever pup, full of energy & fun, easy to train & very friendly. She's 1 year old & came to us as a pup with a terrible wound that nearly finished her. Look at her now - so full of life!

She will make a great pet and you can have fun teaching her new tricks. Let's find her a home!

14/04/2024

05/04/2024

Can you see her?

30/03/2024

Spike and his owners, Eric & Jo, walked for an hour to ask for help. Someone (not them) had tried to home castrate Spike. A rubber band was embedded deep into the skin, he's hobbling on 3 legs because of the pain & his temperature is high. We rushed to the vet where the rubber band was removed and he was properly castrated. He'll be on antibiotics but will make a full recovery.

28/03/2024

We went to a new village today to vaccinate, deworm & dip the dogs. Turnout was low but word will spread and we'll go back.

This is an area where the risk of rabies is real but no dog has ever been vaccinated before.

To meet the target of eliminating rabies by 2030 is a government level task, but we play our part. We love Julius' confidence though - we'll try to live up to his expectations!

26/03/2024

A quick stop to check some dogs ended up in vaccinating & deworming 40 dogs. Sometimes we never know how our days will go!

25/03/2024

Yesterday I arrived at the shelter to find 11 puppies and their owners asking for help.

Three were in reasonable condition & were given some nutritous food & treated for ticks, fleas & worms. The litter of 8 was in poor condition & 1 pup died a couple of minutes after arrival.

We hand fed the others & found out that the mother had a big wound on her teats so was not feeding them. The owner of the mother has had 3 appointments for a spay & missed them all.

This morning we treated mama for her wounds & the owner understands the next appointment cannot be missed. All 7 pups made it thorough the night and we are continuing to provide extra food. Mama & a male dog from the house were also treated for parasites. All dogs will be vaccinated when they come for neutering.

23/03/2024

Help please!
If anyone is coming from Lusaka to Livingstone soon, if you have space in your vehicle, please could you pack in a bag or 2 of cat kibble. There is almost nothing left for sale here in Livingstone and with 40 cats at the shelter we are going to run out this weekend.
Please DM me or get in touch on 0977681741 if you can help. We would really appreciate it. TIA.

18/03/2024

At our outreach in Libuyu 2 weeks ago, we met 3 dogs with broken legs, all from having been beaten or stoned by thieves. We went back to Libuyu, picked them all up, and took them to the vet in town.

Two of them had old injuries where the bone is already growing back. They were put on pain relief & vaccinated. See the comments for a pic of Jaguar & owner Robert.

In the video, you'll see Gucci, whose leg was shattered into pieces. He had major surgery on Friday & is recovering at the shelter. We hope the surgery has saved his leg, but we won't know for a while.

All three dogs have loving owners, but vet fees are beyond their means.

Please help us to help more animals like Gucci. We have outstanding vet bills and are running out of dog & cat food in a few days. Thank you always for your support.

Airtel Money/ E-wallet 0977 681741
PayPal [email protected]
Stanbic Livingstone 9130002075060

16/03/2024

THERE IS NO EXCUSE....

Meet Alex Chimbindo and his 18 month old dog Poppie. Alex brought Poppie to the shelter from Kananga village, about 28km away, because he heard we help dogs.

Poppie was vaccinated, dewormed and is being treated for mange, so she'll be back next week for more treatment.

Its not about money, its not about distance, its not even about knowledge. Its about mindset. Love, appreciate and care for your animals.

If Alex can do it, anyone can.

15/03/2024

Animals are amazing & have so much to teach us. Look at our beautiful blended feline family. These kittens are all unrelated and this is not their mama. 💙🧡💙🧡

12/03/2024

Happy YOUTH DAY to everyone, but particularly all the young people who raise their voices to protect the voiceless. My young team are tireless both at the shelter and in their communities, spreading a message of care and kindness.

08/03/2024

Happy, healthy, vaccinated and neutered puppies ready for their forever homes!

Home check & adoption donation required. Call 0962 865115 or 0977 681741 for more information.