Pets Health Spring 2012 - Petra Laranjo

S P R I N G 2 0 1 2
Feline Cancer
Handicapped Pets
Toys for Pets
Petra Larango
Animal Ambassador
R18.95 (Incl VAT) RSA
Phobias
How to Help

Open your heart
to unconditional love
Petra Laranjo has been in
the show biz for 15 years,
having launched her career
acting in national television
commercials back in 2005.
A number of starring roles
followed and it wasn’t long
before Laranjo had gone from
the small screen to the silver
screen, landing a part in Leon
Schuster’s 2010 hit comedy
Shucks Tshabalala’s Survival
Guide To SA.
She also worked as a model
manager and casting director,
as well as exploring the SA
fashion scene as a designer and
both local and international
celebrity stylist. She achieved
a number of accolades for her
creative flair and sui generis
sense of style.
Her love for creativity, fashion
and most importantly, people,
led her to start her own
company in January 2009.
Fifth Quadrant Productions
specialises in image and
personal branding tailor
made for the unique needs of
individuals and corporates.
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Petra Laranjo
Animal Ambassador
Some people don’t understand our obsession with our two beautiful girls, Mary-Jane and Tamlyn, but we’re
blessed and thankful for having them in our lives. Mary-Jane (Spiderman’s girlfriend’s name sake - Craig’s a
bit of a superhero nut) is a beautiful regal Afrikaanus and Tamlyn (who we adopted already named) is a mixbreed
of sorts. We suspect she’s part Corgie because of her wombat ears.
Both were adoptees from the SPCA & Wetnose Animal
Rescue respectively. Choosing only one to bring home
at a time was traumatic and heartbreaking for us
because at any one time there are approximately 300
eager and excitable or terrified and hopeless dogs
staring at you. Although these wonderful organisations
do their best to home & feed all of their rescues, these
precious animals need warm, cosy and loving homes
instead of concrete shelters.
Both Craig and I are firm believers of spaying and
sterilizing pets. There really is no need to breed,
unless you’re a registered breeder. There are
already thousands of animals in desperate need of
homes. Frankly, I think it’s selfish and robbing these
abandoned animals of homes just because you want
cute puppies. These shelters have loads of puppies
too if you absolutely need a puppy. But consider this
rare opportunity to find a personality in a pet that
matches and compliments yours when you spend just
a moment with a dog that catches your attention at
a shelter. An older dog isn’t “un-trainable”. They are
ready to learn and ready to love just as much as a
puppy, just with a better set of ears for listening. So
open your heart to the personalities that grab your
attention, go in with an open mind and heart and you
will be surprised at the love an animal will give you
when you rescue. It’s as if they know the gift you are
giving them and they are eager to please and love you
in return.
There are many ways in which each and every one of
us can help.
- Start by saving a life by sterilizing and neutering
your pets. Let people adopt from shelters instead
of buying a puppy from a shop window. Shelters
home puppies too. And pedigrees.
- Get a Woolworths benefit card and add up to two
beneficiaries. Woolies honours your purchases by
contributing to them monthly.
- Do a monthly EFT donation. If 500 people
contribute even R50 each, that’s R25 000 per
beneficiary.
- Volunteer to dog-walk and just spend time with
the orphaned and abandoned animals. But if you
can’t bare it, like me, tweet and facebook and help
raise awareness and encourage others to do any or
all of the above.
So when you’re ready to make an extra addition to
the family, consider a shelter. Here’s to enjoying the
journey of unconditional love.
God bless,
Petra
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