“I LOVE my dog so much and always want to be able to provide her with the best possible care,” said Walmer resident, Andiswa Zigoxo, about her seven-month-old pup, Teepsy.
After a friend tagged her in dotsure.co.za’s Quote and Win competition on Facebook, she was intrigued to find out how she could protect Teepsy from illness and accidents.
All she had to do was complete a pet insurance quote on dotsure.co.za’s website and she was in the running to win R25 000 for herself and R25 000 for an animal shelter of her choice.
“It was so simple. It took me less than five minutes to fill out the quotation and submit it,” she said.
When dotsure.co.za contacted Zigoxo to let her know she had won, she was beyond shocked.
“I was so excited but also couldn’t quite believe it. I feel so blessed. For the last few months, with the pandemic, it feels like everything has been falling apart. So, the win couldn’t have come at a better time.”
She said she has already bought Teepsy a new mattress, kennel, toys and treats with the money and has managed to help her mom financially, as she’s no longer working.
She’ll be saving the rest.
Zigoxo didn’t even think twice when it came to decide which animal shelter would receive the R25 000.
“As with all non-profit organisations around the country, Animal Welfare Society PE has taken a huge knock during lockdown. They’ve been wonderful to Teepsy and me and I always take her there for her vaccinations, and when she’s sick. So, I couldn’t think of a worthier charity to donate the money to,” she said.
Hannes Stander, manager at Animal Welfare Society PE, said that when Zigoxo visited his office to tell him the good news, he initially thought it was a scam. “It sounded too good to be true. Lockdown has been a tough time for us.
“We rely on public funding and receive a lot of food donations from schools.
“So, with the public not working normal hours and schools closed, donations slowed down considerably. Luckily, thanks to fundraising efforts, social media drives and amazing support from the Port Elizabeth public we have managed to keep the shelter doors open and take care of the animals.”
Stander explained that the dotsure.co.za donation would be used to cover operational costs, in particular medical costs incurred while treating sick animals from the Walmer township, and residents who could not afford to care for their animals.
The quest to improve the well-being of all animals is at the forefront of dotsure.co.za’s business.
As David Roache, managing director, explained, “We share the same passion for all animals’ well-being as our fans (customers) and naturally want to include them in our initiatives. We cannot do this without our amazing pet family, and we cannot thank them enough for helping us make a difference in the lives of these vulnerable shelter pets.”
