Every stray animal we rescue has a unique story but Sushi’s story is exceptional because she went from imminent death to an important member of the NFA team.
Sushi was found on a rubbish dump in Gugulethu, a poverty-stricken township near Cape Town, in South Africa. She was emaciated, covered in mange, and infested with parasites. How she had survived for so long scavenging for scraps still amazes us.
We see thousands of frightened, starved, and tick-infested dogs in townships, and we help as many as we can. But Sushi wouldn’t let us leave without her. We rescued her from a life of pain and misery and she rewarded us by being an ambassador to other abused dogs.
Sushi and her owner Luke are a formidable team. They’ve been working very hard, helping other dogs like Sushi living in townships.
Right now, due to the Covid-19 crisis, we are seeing a stark increase in the number of abandoned and neglected dogs in dire need. Many require urgent medical treatment but all of them need shelter, food, safety, rehabilitation and lots of love and care.
Forgotten animals like Sushi have no one else – and nowhere else to go. And so many are facing unspeakable pain and suffering.
The one thing they all have in common is an urgent need for help. Will you please give them another chance at happiness by donating today?
About 85 percent of all companion animals in South Africa live in poor townships. They are often chained and kept in appalling conditions, or simply left to roam the streets freely.
Because they aren’t vaccinated, deadly diseases are rife. Canine distemper (or parvovirus disease) can spread like wildfire. Unsterilized dogs fuel the already booming stray dog population. Just one unaltered female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in only six years.
Unwanted dogs are treated as a nuisance – township dogs are drowned, beaten to death, used in dogfighting, starved and even buried alive.
The single most important thing that we can do to save dogs in townships from all the suffering and death that their overpopulation causes is to spay and neuter them.
To cope with the rising number of township dogs during this global pandemic, we must never stop our outreach work – because if we do, the unimaginable will happen to these animals.
We desperately need your help to do even more.
Behind the scenes, Sushi is a smart, faithful and protective dog. She loves bedtime and enjoys snuggling under the covers. She loves to play fetch and even braves the cold Atlantic Ocean water to bring her best friend, NFA’s Luke Barritt, sticks and balls to throw again.