Letter from Vlekkie: Helllooooooo! My name is Vlekkie and my mom’s name is Martie. We are going through hard times my mom says and she is scared I start wandering the neighborhood looking for girlfriends so she took me to the vet. They gave me stuff to make me sleep and when I woke up I felt a bit lighter. When I got home my mommy kept me warm and comfortable and gave me kisses and cuddles. I don’t know what they did but the overall experience was great and I feel great. Wouldn’t mind going again. I want to wish every dog a wonderful festive season and may you all have a loving owner like mine. Licks and hugs, Vlekkie xxx

Dear Sir/Madam, Trust you are well? I send this email as I really need your help. I have a female kitten that is 5 to 6 months old. Her name is Sam. We weren’t sure if it was going to be a boy or girl so Sam was appropriate because it is a unisex name. Sam is the most beautiful black kitten with such a huge personality. She is so loving and loves outdoors. She is a rescue kitty. The only problem is that she was born with one eye. The other eye never developed properly and is slightly open. We have to clean this eye on a daily basis as stuff goes inside and there is a slight discharge. We have taken her to our local vet and they have advised us that the best thing is when she is older to have the eye sewn closed for hygienic purpose. The problem is that we can’t afford to take her to our vet and pay the vet bill to have her sterilized and fix her eye. I lost my job recently and are currently just surviving on one salary. I would really appreciate if you can help us with helping Sam. Signed in hope, from Sam Sam was sterilized and her eye was removed. She was also vaccinated and dewormed. We received an update on her and she is doing very well with no problems arising from the removal of the eye. The cost of this operation came to approx. R3800 and with the help from a few donors we managed to pay the bill. Today Sam is a happy, healthy, mischievous kitten which is the way it should be.

Hello fellow animal lovers, My name is Nuisance. A few months ago, I was rescued from living in the streets and on the mercy of what I could find to eat in the dustbins, by my human Arnold. I was in very bad shape but Arnold made me better. In fact I got so much better that I started humping everybody and everything to show my appreciation. Arnold contacted another human, Yvette, and today Arnold told me we are going to remove balls. I am very excited about this too and can’t wait to see how many will need removing. This AND having a ride in the car is certainly the highlight of my year. I have to go now, as Arnold is nearly out of the door and calling me. Licks, Nuisance!

As a single pensioner 50 Shades of Spay helped me do much by having my two pups spayed. We as a family would like to thanks Yvette for the wonderful work she is doing for the less fortunate by giving Jorge and Jackie a better future. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the people out there for supporting this good cause Jackie & Jorge’s Mommy

In February 2014 I decided to resign from the Chair of the SPCA Vereeniging after 7 years of active involvement. Impending menopausal moods and animal welfare do not go hand in hand and my decision was based on rather let the SPCA cry about my leaving them as opposed to them lining the streets and having a street party celebrating my departure, which was where it would end. I did feel obligated to continue assisting in the community as I know that unwanted litters of puppies and kittens are a huge problem and sterilization fees are the further most from a person’s mind when you are living from meal to meal, so I started the 50 Shades of Spay initiative. I turned 50 and I wanted to do something to commemorate my 50 th year of existence, which was a far cry from running the Two Oceans when I turned 40 and coming stone last, so I opted for the more artistic version of celebrating half a century. My initial thought was to see how many animals I could sterilize in one year, my goal being of course 50. As I am an avid home baker I decided to bake cakes and I would “sell” them to my friends and family. The payment for these cakes was deposited directly into the vet or organizations account so it could be utilized solely for the purpose of sterilization. Everybody needs a cake now and then and that is how I motivated the spay initiative. By “buying” a cake you are sterilizing an animal and how can this not be a good thing? This escalated as word got around and people love the idea of having cake and eating it. I am not shy to say that my creations taste absolutely heavenly and this also helped the cause. To date, my scrumptious cakes have paid for the sterilization of approx. 280 animals and probably added as many pounds to people’s weight, but they certainly get the job done. Being the true cake artiste that I am, I like being given a theme and then let loose. Working according to a picture has just got me in trouble so I don’t venture there. I have been actively involved (in my book this means eat, drink and sleep the cause) in the SPCA movement for a long time and now I am involved in a very high level, revolutionary (albeit peaceful) movement that will become public knowledge in the next 18 months. The focus here is animal welfare and how can we implement a peaceful change to the problems facing our society and the animals. Can’t say much more but watch this space…. I recently asked an animal spiritualist to say a special prayer for all my animals and when she asked for their names I was amazed and frankly a little scared by the amount of animal family that I have. Once you have to write all the names down it is a reality check and the weight of being responsible for so many lives can actually scare you. In our family we have 6 dogs, 2 cats, 6 horses, 2 Lambradors (sheep that think they are dogs) and 3 goats and last but not least we have 4 humans. All my animals are sterilized, vaccinated, dewormed, microchipped and Bravecto’d and I have absolutely no intention of ever allowing any of them to procreate. Most of my furry family is rescues, majority of the dogs from the SPCA and everything else either discarded at birth or rescued from the roadside except for the horses. My daughter rides for the South African Lipizzaner’s and we still have her first and second pony that she rode as a child, one being 27 years old and the other 19. They are pets and have been retired for many years. Even though we have so many animals everybody is family and they are treated as such. Four of my dogs are very large of stature and the remaining two think they are huge (not) and they all sleep inside the house. We have tight moments in the bathroom when everybody wants to get up close and personal but we cope. I am very privileged to stable my horses on a beautiful farm about 3 km from our house. We go for out rides and all the dogs and one lamb (rador) goes with. If not we go for early morning or late evening walks where the dogs all have a swim in the river and Mowgli, the lamb and I look on. Mowgli was given to me when he was 4 hours old. I brought him home and he became a dog, staying with us until he his 11 week birthday when he was joined by a cripple lamb called Mulan and they now live on the farm with all the are large family pets that won’t fit into our house… He loves car rides and visits us at home whenever I have a day off. I also have a wonderful pet sitter that loves all my animals as her own, she doubles up as their groomer so they visit her parlor once a month and therefore they know her very well. Mowgli, the sheep also has regular grooming sessions and enjoys a pampering spa day very much! Adopting a rescue is one of the most rewarding and unselfish things that a person can do. Adopting a senior pet is of course a sure way to ensure that you get a flying pass through the pearly gates. There are so many unwanted animals waiting for the opportunity to show you how grateful they are for giving them a second chance – why not consider the options when you are looking to expand your family? If your motivation is that you want a purebred animal, please check for availability with your local shelter or even with the breed specific page on social media. There is a rescue organization for nearly every breed and involve your children with your choices and motivations for doing so as they learn from their parents and will hopefully be motivated to do the same when they are adults one day. I feel like I have always been a mom, I feel responsible for everything and I try and help wherever I can. This has led me down a path of quiet destruction as I became disheartened with not being able to change the world. Being involved in animal welfare has taught me that we save one at a time, one foot in front of the other, always moving forward. Baking these cakes, each and every one of them, gives me the knowledge that together with the cake eating fraternity out there we are saving an animal at a time. Good enough for me. I have met such great people, ordinary folk that have touched my life and inspired me daily, too many to mention. 50 Shades of Spay is not about me, it is about the generosity of people, the greatness of my vet, Dr. Hennie Boonzaaier, the struggle of all the people in animal welfare and bringing relief to people and communities in a small way. I love a challenge and have been asked to do some weird and wonderful cakes. I have a very colorful repertoire of words that are not fit for human ears and I use it well when I am confronted with said challenges. My dogs watch every move and listen to every word I am very glad to say that they have all signed a confidentiality disclosure and will not divulge any secrets. Should you be in need of any celebratory cake please support our cause. I am just adding that please remember that you are actually paying for a spay and the cake is an extra. The fact that there are 6 fur bodies in the house also brings about extra fur, which implies an extra charge for the cake should you be lucky enough to find one….

As we brought Buddy into our house in 2005, we also took him out of the house on Thursday: in a blanket. In September 2005 it was all systems go for a visit to Europe over the December holidays. The kennels had been booked and paid for, for 5 dogs and two cats, the horses had been taken care of and as always my will was fine-tuned and in an accessible place should the plane go down in flames or we die in Euro Disney, the friends & family will have strict guidelines on what should happen to my pets…. We were driving to work early that morning and our usual route was the Heidelberg Road towards Boksburg. We had hardly passed Vernon’s Garage on our right when I saw something bounce onto the side of the road. There were cars and busses in front of us so my line of sight was marred but as we neared the area I saw what I thought was a calf on the side of the road. The usual mayhem ensued in the car with me screaming and crying and yelling as I couldn’t get there fast enough and while the wheels were still turning I opened the door and hopped out not even breaking my stride whilst managing the gravel on my high heels. When I got to the animal I saw that it was a huge Boerboel. The taxi in front of us had driven over his front feet to add to his injuries and I thought he was dying. By then my husband had managed to stop the car and he helped me put the dog on the back seat of the car. We immediately turned around and made our way to our vet. As we drove I kept on speaking, pleading and crying all over the dog. I remember having a white suit on the day and I also remember NOT having any tissues in the car, the result being snot and tears all over the dog and the seat. People that know our family well also know that my husband is not easily ruffled. He is a very calm and collected person and he often chants the following mantra to me:” Calm down, you can achieve so much more if you just calm down…” He stayed focused and spoke to me all the way but to no avail – not even a hammer could have shut me up! We arrived at the vet and now I must paint the following picture: picture a very sedate, very Afrikaans, elderly, soft spoken, safari suit wearing man and one dirty, tousled, no shoes, no tissue, bad language woman… he quickly put the dog on a trolley, wheeled him in and said: “go to work, I will phone you….” It was touch and go with Buddy. He suffered severe internal injuries, he had a huge cut over his head, his paws were mangled and for days it didn’t look like he was going to make it. He was a young intact male and I think roaming was his way of getting fed and impregnating all the females in the area, which led to disastrous results. I went every day and sat with him but there was no change. One afternoon I fetched the children from school and they just happened to be with me when I stopped at the vet. They were desperate to meet the dog that had been a conversation piece at home for the past week and so I thought what could the harm be. We walked into the surgery after care area and the kids started interacting with him through the cage. By the time we left I became apparent that Buddy loved children and he perked up so much in that one visit that we promised to be back the same time the following day. And so the healing started. Briony and Keagen gave Buddy a reason for being. He stayed with the vet for three weeks, but he couldn’t walk. He had to be carried on a blanket from the kennel to the outside area and back. We made the decision to bring him home. Having so many dogs that are rather large we are always a bit unsure of how they will react. Christopher and I carried him into the house on a blanket and straight to our room where we have a sliding door that would give easy access to the garden. The dogs were curious but gentle. For three weeks we carried Buddy in and out, rolling him onto the grass so he could do his business and rolling him back onto the blanket to take him inside. He was a young dog, not much older than a year and the prognosis was good for a full recovery. So he healed, became part of the family and we had to beg and plead to get him a space in the kennels with our other dogs so we could go on holiday. All worked out. In the 9 years since then he had biliary shortly after he recovered from the accident – another big scare, he had a type of blood cancer, and he was allergic to maize and had to be on the special food from Royal Canin but apart from that he was healthy and happy. He loved DJ so much that we had a few cuts and bites to contend with as DJ just couldn’t cope with all the love but nothing serious. He also had the bad habit of humping Hazel even though we neutered him as we got him. Not that we blame him as Hazel is a tart and was always fanning the fires…..so he got the name of the Dirty Uncle (there is always one in every family). He was super scared of the vet, the pool and really no “guard” dog at all. It took us forever to show him that bath time is not killing time and eventually he learned to love the scrubbing and of course the TOWEL. He always made a duck for safety before everybody else whenever he sensed any irregularity but we loved him for all his wonderful little quirks and gentle nature. He also never pooped on the grass but only used the ablutions in the flowerbeds – very considerate …. He left us sleeping peacefully, no worries and even giving a little snore or two. We let all the other dogs come and say goodbye and when his ashes return they will join all the other beloved pets ashes in the special ashes cupboard (yes, we have one of those, seeing that we have so many pets…) We are truly blessed to have such great animals in our lives – they make us the people we are.