Making Happy Tails for Street Dogs in Rwanda

Hello friends of WAG!

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and 2022 is off to a great start. It's been several months since we launched our GlobalGiving page, and it's been a game changer for our tiny organization.  Whether you made a one off donation to our initial campaign, became a reoccurring donor or are just following along on our page, we want to start our very first report with a THANK YOU!  Despite a stressful last few months, we are so encouraged with continued financial support made possible through this platform. We can't say it enough, without you, there would be no WAG!

Things have been busy in Kigali! We wanted to highlight just a couple happy endings and give some quick updates:

*Through a targeted fundraiser, in December we were able to dedicate over 1000$ towards mental health and enrichment items for our dogs!  Much needed collars, toys, high quality treats  are on their way to Rwanda, with other items being purchased locally. Tails are wagging! These types of items are often low priority on our budget. It was a huge deal to be able invest specifically in dog-joy!

*We have had several new rescue intakes! Margot might be one of our most memorable. This puppy was found lying in a ditch ( for over a week!) after being hit by a car.  At rescue, she was on the verge of death, was incredibly malnourished and weak, and had severe wounds to her front legs. We initially thought she might not make it, and if she did, she'd need her front leg amputated. However, after a couple of weeks of hospitalisation and intensive care, she was well enough to be taken for x-rays, where we discovered that the bones in her leg were already fusing and the muscle and skin around her leg was growing back. Margot is the sweetest pup and has recently been given the green light for adoption. She is waiting (while getting lots of love and enjoying life) for the perfect family.

Another special rescue was mama Zeus and her 7 newborn puppies. At the time of writing, 2 of these cuties have already been homed. Zeus is the most gentle dog (we call her mouse because she is tiny yet has massive eyes). She was living alone in a compound (heavily pregnant) when new tenants moved in. As Paci was arriving to do a behaviour assessment she started delivering her puppies! Although they all got sick soon after intake,  everyone has recovered and keep us entertained with their puppy antics.They are seriously adorable.

*While adoptions have been slow, some amazing forever homes have been found.  Congrats to each  new forever family! Attached are just a few photos of a handful of those matches.

*We are currently at maximum capacity with every single kennel full at our pilot shelter space. We remain hopeful that despite rising COVID case counts and limited volunteers, adoptions will pick up in the new year and allow us to continue to take even more dogs into our care. We have a wait list and have been prioritizing urgent cases ( injured dogs, pregnant females and puppies) but the needs remain greater than our current capacity. Just today with 2 of Zeus' pups headed home, we were able to take in one more puppy found alone.

We will be in touch again in a few months with another update.

Until then, stay safe. We hope wherever you find yourself in these uncertain times, there is a dog nearby.

With gratitude on behalf of the WAG team,
Frances Klinck