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11 Year Old Representing S.A.

Eleven year old Tiger, a once ‘mangy mongrel’ adopted from Animal Welfare, will be donning the green and gold and representing South Africa at the World Agility Championships in Belgium in May 2008.

Unlike the five other dogs on the team, Tiger is almost geriatric, and he’s far from a pedigree; he’s been described as a cross between a long-haired Chihuahua and a Toy Pom with a bit of Corgi thrown in. He is a ‘toy’ type dog and the only non-working dog on the team.

Six years ago Tiger’s owner Ansie Minnaar was doing agility training with her Border Collie, when Tiger suddenly joined in – he raced through a tunnel and demanded his treat. Ansie was stunned “it had never occurred to me that Tiger could do agility,” she says. “I lowered one of the jumps to Tiger’s height and gave him the over command, he was over it in flash.” Ansie says that Tiger took to agility ‘like a natural’ and she has been training him ever since.

Friends of the Cat

We are happy to welcome Friends of the Cat to our resource centre. They are located in the Gauteng province. Looking for a cat? Visit their page or go directly to their site to find yourself a new friend.

Obesity is the biggest health issue facing pets and a form of abuse

Obesity is the single biggest health issue facing domestic animals and can be regarded as a form of abuse, according to delegates at an international conference held recently in London. Dr Guy Fyvie, a local veterinarian invited to attend, warned “Obesity amongst pets in South Africa is at a similar crisis level”.

More than half (55%) of conference attendees said that they knew of a pet that had to be euthanased because it was suffering from an obesity related disease or was too obese for routine surgery. An earlier study1 has shown that the life of an over-weight dog is shortened by at least two years (equivalent to a life expectancy shortfall in humans of about 15 years). “An overweight animal is at higher risk of co-morbidities such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer which literally take years off its life,” said Dr Fyvie. “Furthermore the extra weight can cause arthritis and mobility problems that can be extremely painful.”