This Women’s Month, we celebrate the story of two dogs whose lives were changed for the better when Barking Mad’s founder, Tracy McQuarrie, refused to look away. With compassion and determination, Tracy acted when Natalie and Nicole needed someone speaking up for...
When Rules Kill: Coco’s Story and the Cost of Control This is not a new story of heartbreak. But it is a devastating one. Across South Africa, families are being forced to choose between their homes and their pets because of arbitrary rules created by housing estate...
Is it just a Cup of Coffee? I’ve been working on a project for the past year, which has taken me all over South Africa. Shelter to shelter. Province to province. Gravel roads, early mornings, long days, heavy conversations. Seeing what animal welfare really looks like...
How We Show Up In animal welfare, we show up fully for the animals. We stay late. We skip meals. We carry heartbreak home. We dig deep when there’s nothing left. But somewhere along the way, we stopped showing up for ourselves and for each other. Across the animal...
What Does “Good” Really Mean in Animal Sheltering? In animal welfare, we often hear the phrase: “Not all shelters are good.” It’s a statement that usually comes from concern for animals, donors, and people who want to help in the right way. But it also raises an...
Domestication, the dog’s biggest mistake. If dogs knew then what they know now, I don’t think they would ever have trusted us. I don’t think those first wolves who edged closer to human fires, drawn by scraps and the promise of safety, could ever have imagined...
