Kim Osmand

Welcome to HAT - Helping Animals Together's page

I would like to introduce HAT to you and invite you to please visit and “LIKE” our facebook page.http://www.faceook.co./hatfestivalhelderberg/

Our website is currently under construction. www.helpinganimalstogether.org.za

We would love for you to see the wonderful work we are doing to help the animals in the poorer communities. All of this has been made possible by our truly amazing supporters.

By way of introduction, my name is Kim Osmond and I have been involved in the Grabouw Township communities since 2009. A group of compassionate volunteers established HAT – Helping Animals Together in October 2012 in an attempt to build a more recognized public platform and presence. 

We have a phenomenal working relationship with the majority of other rescue organisations in the Western Cape and often draw on their expertise and facility to house and rehome stray or unwanted animals. Animal Welfare Helderberg; PetPals; TEARS; LEAPS; Animal Welfare Philippi; Animal Rescue Organisation; Dancers love Dogs; Aniwell; African Tails and CoGH SPCA to name a few. We regularly attend the Cape Animal Welfare Forummeetings in order to keep abreast of the welfare market; challenges and victories.

We focus on sterilizations and educate the owners on how animals should be treated and cared for. We take time to teach the children and encourage them to interact with their pets. Our approach is very much "hands-on".

Our primary objective is to positively change the hearts of pet owners in the poorer communities, thereby minimizing neglect, pain & suffering of animals.

There has been a noticeable change in the pets living circumstances and overall health in the areas that have received our intervention to date. The attitude of the people has also become remarkably more caring towards both the pets and each other.

Unfortunately euthanasia is a very real part of the job function we perform. To give you an idea, we had sterilised approximately 95% of Hillside community’s pets. 1 year later we revisited this area with the aim of identifying new pets to be sterilised. We removed 38 pups of which 17 were thankfully distributed between various rescue organisations and the remaining 21 had to be humanely euthanized. (How humane is that actually?)

We identified a further 32 puppies that were too young to be removed and were therefore left with their mommy’s. Pretty much a catch 22 situation as it is inevitable that the majority of these puppies will need to be euthanized due to illness, lack of good loving homes or merely space in which they can be cared for until such time they could possibly get adopted. It breaks our heart but it’s kindest for the animals in the long run.

Over and above our home checks and vet visits we are very involved in the community itself. We host Kennel building days in the township from time to time and we provide the wood, nails & screws, waterproof material and carpet. The owners take pride in the kennels they have built for their dogs and paid R20 towards. We also bring in mobile vets to run sterilisation campaigns in the area. This allows for more animals to be operated on and minimises transport issues. Other rescue organisations have kindly sent their vehicles in to assist us by loading between 10 and 20 animals at a time to transport them to the vets in Cape Town for sterilisation and then return them to their homes. Of course we facilitate this. We attempt to have the animals vaccinated and dewormed as well as far as possible depending on funding. We regularly create temporary dip stations where owners take the initiative to dip their own dogs which kills ticks and if done regularly assists with mange which is quite rife in the area. This in itself discourages zoonosis.  

The community are forthcoming and appreciative of any help they receive. They have realised the importance of sterilising the animals but unfortunately they do not have the means to pay for it or transport the animals. There is an enormous number of animals that still need to be sterilised and the longer we wait the more the numbers will increase. 

A widespread “puppy and kitty BOOM” is happening out there and it needs to be controlled immediately.

Please help us help them!

Kind regards

Kim Osmond and The HAT Team