Woof Tour throws spotlight on pounds

OSCAR, a mutt who was adopted at the Grassy Park SPCA in Cape Town, South Africa, and his human companion, Joanne Lefson, are on a world tour to raise awareness for dog pounds.

The five-month tour will take them to 33 countries on all five continents where they will visit 65 organisations that take care of dogs and back home to Cape Town in time for World Animal Day on October 4.Oscar will be visiting Zanzibar, Romania, Italy, Russia, Cambodia, Canada, Cuba, Peru and Peru to name just a few. In planning the tour he avoided countries with stringent quarantine restrictions with the exception of Malaysia, which has waived its normal requirements for a good cause. Oscar will not only be visiting shelters and animal welfare organisations, he will also climb Mount Fuji with mutts from local shelters, visit orphanages in Nepal and Moscow and hang-glide off Sugarloaf Mountain in Brazil.Oscar was adopted from the kennel just over five years ago and his gratitude is boundless. He is now on the tour in the hope of convincing the world and its people that pets adopted from shelters can be a really good deal, that they are a huge wellspring of love, loyalty and companionship waiting to be sprung form the bleak reality of dog shelters. They are not ugly, flea-infested or disease-ridden mongrels. Less than 25 per cent of dogs in shelters are adopted and for the rest this is the end of the line, although they still have so much to offer.Oscar will also award an ‘Oscar’ for the most deserving and desperate inmate of each shelter he visits on his ‘World Woof Tour’. This, he hopes, will help the winner to get adopted and will also create awareness and interest in his tour. In Windhoek he chose ‘Diego’, a small mixed breed who was found last year roaming the streets. The person who adopts Diego will also receive a Rogz toy hamper.People can watch his adventures and progress on www.worldwooftour.com