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Seychelles Animal Welfare Society (SAWS) |28 May 2016

First pet funfair a success

 

The 2016 Seychelles Animal Welfare Society (SAWS) pet funfair organised last Sunday at Grand Anse Mahé was a first of its kind and attracted more than 300 people. Many pet owners had the opportunity to bring along their pets to have a good time with other pet lovers.

After the event, the founder and chairperson of SAWS, Ella Rene, told Seychelles NATION “we want to help the advancement of the canine and pet culture in Seychelles and show people that there are many things you can do with your dog. Secondly we want to provide activities owners can do with their dogs apart from driving around and going on the beach. Our main aim of course though was to raise funds, not only for our current animal welfare activities but also to go towards being able to buy land and get our small shelter up and running. Right now all our animals are kept in foster homes and there is a limit as to what we can do. We wanted to approach government but we do know that it has already given land to two other animal welfare associations so we decided we'll go private. It may be the hard way but hopefully with enough support we can make it.”

Talking about the time and energy invested in this show, Ms Rene stated that “being a first of its kind in a country like Seychelles where no one knows what to expect, it was very very hard. In the last week all of us were running everywhere, getting registrations, chasing up participants and getting equipment. But on D Day, almost everything was positive. What people do not understand is that this is a first for Seychelles. We cannot start with international standard shows. So many of our participants would have been disqualified on the spot. We have to do it in stages. It would not be fair on our canine owners community if we start right at the top. Progress is gradual. We have learned so much from this fair.”

Other activities proposed during the day was horse riding and the kids’ corner. “It was incredible seeing in Seychelles a field full of people walking around, watching the shows with all sorts of dogs -- from tiny balls of fluffs to gentle giants. And the dogs loved it.  There were also three shows: The breeds show, the obedience trials and the Seychelles dog.

The winners were as follows: category Seychelles Dog with six participants. 1st: Leo owned by Jane Hardy; 2nd Billie owned by Ellie Ferris; 3rd Fergus owned by Rowanna Walton.

For the Obedience trials category with five participants. 1st: Boy owned by Jean-Marie Croguennec; 2nd: Fergus owned by Rowanna Walton and 3rd: Djo owned by Jean-Marie Croguennec.

For the Breeds show category with 10 participants. 1st: Boy, Rottweiler owned by Fabio Soopramanian; 2nd: Lady, Siberian Husky owned by Ella Rene; 3rd: Scooby, Cane Corso pup owned by Brigitte.

After this first event Ms Rene shared that “I am very happy. We accomplished our aims. People can aim for next year and we are always ready to help with any info. So many people brought their dogs and some even performed in the arena when it was free. And of course we managed to raise funds. 300+ people turned up for the event and we are very happy about that for the first time. Apart from raising funds for the reasons stated above (and to upkeep and process our dogs and cats for adoption which usually range from 20-30) we are doing several other things. Discussing with Authorities about changing the animal welfare legislations, creating curricula and workshops where we can approach schools to sensitise the future about animal welfare, and planning our next sterilisation campaign similar to the one on La Digue, this time on Praslin in January 2017. We also have our dog sponsored walk coming up which we will plan for Pet Week in October. Last year we did one for members only, this time we will open it up to our volunteers. However space will be VERY limited as we are doing this step by step. I'd like to thank everyone who made this a possibility. And chapeau to my team who worked so hard. The same team who on the Tuesday, with the help of Dr Marc from South Africa sterilised 20 of our animals.”

Accompanying the article are some photos taken during the pet funfair.

 

V. G.

 

 

 

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