My suggestion to go to Wet Nose Day was met with some reluctance from KK. The excuses rolled off his tongue but I think the main reason he was not keen is because he was dreading it if I suddenly decided I wanted to adopt a dog and bring it home.

With a lot of convincing and the promise of a boerewors roll for lunch, off we went.

Most people are like KK. He finds animal shelters and places such as the SPCA unbearable. He does not like seeing the dogs, locked up in tiny cages, walking in their own urine and poo, with sad eyes begging for someone to love them. It was no different at the Wet Nose Animal Rescue Centre.

The cages were full of dogs. Some had been there for quite a number of years, others were new to the centre. There was a mix of pure-bred dogs, such as a sharpei and husky, as well as pavement specials. As with all characters in life, there were the extroverts who performed little tricks as you passed their cage, whilst the introverts kept to themselves and avoided eye contact. All of them just wanted love…

KK did one trip through the kennels but then opted to sit and wait on the grass while I did a second trip. The look on his face said it all.

I do understand that it’s not for everyone. I get that. But what he doesn’t understand is that I see it quite differently…

When I was 15, my sister and I volunteered at the SPCA. Every Saturday and one Sunday a month, we would get involved in office admin duties, assisting distressed owners who came looking for their lost pets, helping families to chose a new dog or cat to adopt or just documenting all dogs that came in and were reported as strays.

From my recollection, we saw more dogs and cats being adopted than those coming in as strays or being put down.

I think the many years of working at the SPCA somehow prepared me. It “hardened” me in a way to accept that cruelty is a part of everyday life.

It made me understand that as much as I don’t want to see it or be confronted with it, I cannot think that it doesn’t happen or doesn’t exist.  

I take my hat off to places like Wet Nose, Animal Anti-Cruelty and SPCA who are doing everything they can, with limited funds, to take starving, sick or abused dogs off the streets and try to give them a better life.

I have a confession…

No, we did not come home with a dog. But I did choose one, just in case KK changed his mind (which he didn’t).

Here he is… His name is Moglee.

He’s too big for the dog flap in the kitchen. Perhaps a bit too heavy to lie on the couch. And I doubt Annie and Emma would appreciate a new family member without being consulted first.  

But for a few moments as I stood, giving him a ‘love’, he was mine…