
Community rallies to replenish Isipingo Pet Rescue dog food
AS ISIPINGO Pet Rescue's dog food stocks were depleting, the non-profit organisation took to the streets for a dog food drive.
Organisation founder Nirvana Ramlall said that Isipingo Pet Rescue volunteers often use their own resources to help and rescue furry friends in need. She was elated that in its time of need, community members assisted the organisation.
Also read: Snare Aware receives stark reminder of poaching
'I had volunteers come through and help me, and they stood in the sun with me for three hours. Our biggest donor was Mowbeth Scrap Metals, which donated over 400kg of dog food. I am so grateful to all the donors on the day, as well as the volunteers. We were having a very hard time as we had to feed our dogs rice and gravy to keep them going. This food drive helped us out tremendously; at least for the next two months we can use our energy towards fundraising. After losing my Facebook page, I feel invisible online right now and because of this, we have lost a lot of support. Having these food drives is very valuable. Right now, Isipingo Pet Rescue is in dire need of such community support to keep doing the work we do,' said Ramlall.
To assist Isipingo Pet Rescue donations can be made into the following account:
Bank name: Nedbank
Account holder: Pet Rescue Isipingo NPC
Account number: 1251 3373 76
Swift key: NEDSZAJJ
Reference : Vet bills
Donations made to the rescue account are eligible for a section 18A tax exemption certificate. For more information or to send proof of payment, contact Ramlall on 062 633 0544.
For more South Coast Sun news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Citizen
21 hours ago
- The Citizen
Church brings hope and warm meals to the community
Kind-hearted members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church recently took to the streets near Saveways Crescent to share warmth, not only through smiles but also by handing out cups of soup and fresh fruit to those most affected by economic hardship. @witbanknews Earlier today, kind-hearted individuals brought warmth and joy to the community, distributing soup and fruits to those who need it most, spreading smiles and making a difference near Saveways Crescent. #witbanknews #witbank #emalahleni #trending #empumelelweni #Fyp ♬ original sound – witbanknews The outreach on June 10 formed part of the church's on-going commitment to social responsibility. Victor Mhlanga, speaking on behalf of the church, emphasised that this kind of outreach is at the core of their mission. 'We are here for our mission as a church,' he said. 'We believe in responsible social action. The economy is not doing well, unemployment is rising, and people are struggling. We use our offerings to help the less fortunate get a meal. This is not the first time we've done this, and it certainly won't be the last. As a church, we are happy to contribute to society.' Breaking news at your fingertips … Follow WITBANK NEWS our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok Chat to us: info@ At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!

IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
A life behind bars: The silent suffering of South Africa's zoo animals
From Charlie to Opal - South Africa's shameful legacy of caged zoo animals continues as Johannesburg Zoo refuses to release 3 elephants to a sanctuary. Image: Instagram Imagine spending your entire life confined behind bars, with strangers staring at you day after day. No freedom to roam, no family bonds, no natural surroundings - just concrete enclosures and a life of monotony. This is the silent suffering endured by many wild animals in South African zoos, being caged for our entertainment. It's time to ask: at what cost do we keep animals behind glass and bars for our fleeting amusement? For many years, the ethical debate has raged over the captivity of wild animals in zoos, much like the criticism of using animals in circuses. Any compassionate person must question why, despite decades of public outcry and mounting evidence of animal suffering, zoo officials continue to ignore the pleas of animal welfare organisations and concerned citizens. Once again, the plight of three elephants held in captivity at the Johannesburg Zoo has resurfaced, now with the added weight of legal support from Harvard Law School scholars advocating for their release. A legal application is currently before the High Court in Pretoria against the Johannesburg Zoo, which is owned by the City of Johannesburg and managed by Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo. The elephants - Lammie, Mopane, and Ramadiba are confined in conditions that experts argue cause severe mental, emotional, and physical distress. Renowned elephant specialists insist that any urban zoo, no matter how well-resourced, fails to meet the complex needs of these intelligent and deeply social creatures. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Concerns have also been raised about the qualifications of those charged with their care. According to the Conservation Action Trust, those responsible include an animal reiki healer, a handler with self-proclaimed "minimum training", and an enrichment officer trained by a pet association. Offers of assistance from international elephant experts have reportedly been ignored by the zoo, which has previously come under fire for its lack of experience in proper elephant management. The Johannesburg Zoo has defended itself, claiming that the elephants receive appropriate care and attention. But scrutiny has intensified as Conservation Action Trust reported that the zoo spent R1.5 million to acquire Mopane and Ramadiba from Inkwenkwezi Private Game Reserve - far more than the usual R150,000 per elephant and that these elephants were initially captured from the wild and subjected to a captive management programme, making their current moated enclosure wholly unsuitable. Charlie's story The issue has also gained traction in the wake of Charlie's story - the last elephant at Pretoria's National Zoological Gardens, who was recently relocated to a sanctuary. Charlie endured a lifetime of hardship. Captured in Hwange, Zimbabwe, 44 years ago, he was trained for the Boswell Wilkie Circus before being moved to various parks and eventually to the Pretoria Zoo in 2001. There, he languished alone, having witnessed three companions die prematurely and losing his infant daughter. His release to a sanctuary in 2024 came after years of campaigning. The EMS Foundation has proposed a similar solution for Lammie, Mopane, and Ramadiba: relocation to the Shambala Game Reserve in the Waterberg. This sanctuary offers secure, spacious surroundings where the elephants can undergo a gradual reintegration into a natural habitat, overseen by experienced veterinarians and animal welfare professionals. Opal the orangutan Then there is the heartbreaking case of Opal the orangutan, held at the Natal Zoological Gardens outside Pietermaritzburg. The late Brian Boswell insisted Opal "did not suffer" and refused to rehome her to a sanctuary. Image: Kloof And Highway SPCA At 45 years old, Opal, one of the most intelligent primates, spends her life alone on a barren patch of grass with only a crude "jungle gym" made of poles. Her only company: curious humans staring at her in silence. Once, she had a mate and a baby boy, but her son died of tuberculosis. Now, her only response to this constant public display and emotional deprivation is to fling her faeces at the gawkers. Despite public concern, the late Brian Boswell - of the notorious Boswell Wilkie Circus - insisted Opal "did not suffer" and refused to rehome her to a sanctuary that would have offered a significantly improved quality of life.

TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- TimesLIVE
'One Small Step' by Paul Sinton-Hewitt
ABOUT THE BOOK This is the story of a simple idea that turned into a global movement. It's the story of parkrun, told for the first time by the man who started it. Paul Sinton-Hewitt's love for running was forged through a difficult childhood. It gave a young boy a sense of freedom and helped him build a life for himself. Years later when he suffered a serious injury that held him back from competitive running, Sinton-Hewitt felt he'd lost all purpose in life. That's when he came up with a simple idea. He would start a weekly time trial run every Saturday morning in his local park. There would be no winners or losers, it would be free and Sinton-Hewitt would be there every week — even on Christmas Day — whether or not anyone else came. Little did he know that from just 13 runners on that first Saturday, parkrun would grow into a 10-million runners community on five continents. Twenty years later parkrun continues to grow, bringing together people from all walks of life in search of health, happiness and community. Filled with hope and optimism, One Small Step is a powerful affirmation of how coming together in simple ways can change our own lives and might even change the world. EXTRACT In the same year that I invited runners to join me in Bushy Park one Saturday morning, Mark Zuckerberg had started the first online social network. Like Facebook, parkrun sought to connect people. It's just we encouraged them to do so by getting out and being active. It was a comparison that I often heard. At a time when we were striving to make it as simple as possible for people to start a parkrun in their community, however, I saw more similarities in another online phenomenon: Wikipedia. Like parkrun, the free, collaborative online encyclopaedia was community driven. Founded by Jimmy Wales, a former options trader turned entrepreneur from Chicago, the resource was open to users who wished to create, edit and update their own entry. Wikipedia provided the tools for users to assemble a page on any subject under the sun, which was then monitored and maintained by a global community of volunteers. With parkrun, we had built a very similar model. Anyone could start an event. We just supported them with the framework and resources they needed to get it up and running and then make it sustainable. As events continued to spring up around the world at that time, from Poland to Ireland and an early foray into the USA, I was keen to share the passion for parkrun with one country in particular. Since starting my new life in the UK, South Africa had been through a transformation. With apartheid dismantled, a new society had emerged determined to learn lessons from the past and look to the future. At the same time, divisions remained. Economic equalities persisted, largely along racial lines. Having seen how parkrun could be a great leveller, bringing everyone together no matter what their background or circumstance, I felt strongly that it could be a force for good in the place I once called home. I also knew exactly who possessed the passion, principles and drive to lead the way in delivering that dream. I hadn't spoken to Bruce Fordyce since the eighties, when I'd been part of his support team for the Comrades Marathon. As well as securing a reputation as one of the country's most celebrated distance runners, Bruce had been a prominent anti-apartheid activist. He was a proud countryman who continued to use his platform to seek bridges across so many divides. In early 2011 when I heard that he was visiting the UK, primarily to give a talk at Reading University about his experiences as a nine-times Comrades winner, I decided that I should go along with a view to reintroducing myself. As a reflection of his role in running history, the theatre was packed. With Bruce in conversation about his career on stage, entertaining everyone on a Friday evening, I listened to amazing stories that brought back memories from my life as a young runner. It reminded me just what an influence this man had been in showing me how determination could pay off. Afterwards, as people pressed around Bruce in the bar for a chat or an autograph, I managed to catch his attention. 'I don't know if you remember me?' I said somewhat awkwardly, aware that two decades had passed since our paths had last crossed. Bruce registered my introduction. He pause for a beat and then grinned. 'Paul!' he beamed, and turned my handshake into an embrace. That evening, as we caught up on each other's lives, Bruce listened with interest as I told him about my initial time trial that had turned into something much bigger than I had imagined. He hadn't heard of parkrun, which was no surprise to me as post-apartheid South Africa hadn't fully shaken off its insular spirit, but when I talked about the impact on communities I knew I had his full attention. During his short trip to the UK, Bruce was staying with his sister who lived in London. When he told me he would be travelling back there that evening, I realised I might have an opportunity for Bruce to experience for himself what parkrun could offer. 'Why don't you join me in Bushy Park tomorrow morning at nine?' I suggested. For a moment, I thought I might have trapped him into something he didn't have time to do. 'I'd never turn down a chance to go for a run,' he said instead, and arranged to meet me there. The next morning, as people began to congregate ahead of the start, I prepared myself for the possibility that he might not turn up. Bruce and his wife, Gill, had a busy agenda before flying home. When they both found me in the crowd, however, dressed in their running gear, I just knew that it was time to let the event take over. Even in middle age, Bruce could still be a competitive runner. I half expected him to lead the way, and though he set a decent pace I could tell that he was more interested in the experience than achieving a target time. On filing through the finishing tunnel, a little breathless but beaming, Bruce Fordyce understood why I had said this was not a race but a community gathering. 'You're onto something!' he said on spotting me, and I knew he wasn't just talking about the run but everything else that the event had to offer. I watched him join the growing throng of finishers, people of every age and ability chatting happily, and felt quite sure that he had just taken the first step towards bringing parkrun to a country that could benefit from events in both cities and townships. Later that year, Bruce and the team he had assembled launched South Africa's first parkrun in Delta Park, Johannesburg. I had no doubt that the country's strong running culture would embrace the concept, but Bruce went the extra mile in encouraging a diversity of participants. He focused on establishing events in economically deprived areas, and emphasised inclusion and health. In particular, Bruce welcomed walkers as much as runners. It meant people got involved who might otherwise have been deterred, and that took parkrun to another level in terms of activity for all. By 2013, parkrun had established 20 events nationwide. By 2020, that number would surpass 200, with up to seventy thousand people taking part each week. Thanks to the early efforts of Bruce Fordyce, and the values he has always represented, South Africa would become one of the largest parkrun communities outside the UK.