Too poor to feed themselves, let alone their dogs and too attached to their pets to let them go, some residents of Alexandra, Gauteng, have told an animal welfare organisation that they feed their four-legged friends sawdust to keep them full.

This is according to Samantha Berger, founder and director of Kitty and Puppy Haven.

Berger says since starting an outreach programme called Alex Dog Days in the area in November 2010, they've had a positive response from the Alexandra community.

But Berger says there's a dark side to the story that lies with the way some animals are being fed.

She says she has evidence that proves that the majority of the dogs in the township have never been fed dog food.

“The lucky ones are fed scraps or mealie meal... the others are fed on sawdust.”

Berger says owners have confessed to her that when they cannot afford to feed their dogs, they soak sawdust in water, which the animal laps up and that is what keeps the animal full.

The physiological concern from being fed a non-nutritional “meal”, Berger says these dogs are literally starving to death.

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