CAPS caretaker Wayne Wilshere-Cumming gives the shelter dogs some Christmas love as Santa. Photo: Supplied.
Weipa’s animal shelter needs the community’s help to ensure every dog wakes up to a stocking full of presents on Christmas morning.
The Cape Animal Protection Shelter (CAPS) has started its first Santa stocking campaign, giving each dog a chance to feel the love this festive season.
CAPS president Shayna Reeves said the shelter chose the stocking campaign over a giving tree this year to encourage a more personal connection between the animals and gift-givers.
She said residents were welcome to donate directly to a stocking at the facility or use the drop bins at Weipa Community Care Centre, Mitre 10, and Western Cape College.
“Each dog has a Santa stocking hanging on their house. We’ve opened it up to the general public so they can come down and see the dog in person, and pop it [the present] in the stocking,” she said.
“With the Santa stocking campaign being a lot more personalised, we’ve had several gifts donated as miscellaneous.
“We’ve also had a lot dropped off to individual dogs because people have come down and walked them. They may not be in a position to foster or adopt them, but they still build relationships.”
Ms Reeves said after a mostly dog food-only response to last year’s giving tree, she hoped the four-legged family could also wake up to some fun toys to keep them healthy and entertained during the wet season.
She said CAPS also received a generous donation from the KONG Company, which gifted the dogs high-quality rubber chew toys that could be filled with treats.
“You can pop it in the freezer, so it’s great for long durations and cooling the dogs down on a hot day. It just keeps them busy,” she said.
“Because we run at such high capacity and it is the wet season, we only have a limited amount of exercise yards. Enrichment toys are a huge benefit for the dogs.”
Donations for the Santa stocking campaign will be open until 24 December to ensure the dogs receive their gifts on Christmas morning.
