Zambezi Animal Welfare Services - ZAWS

Zambezi Animal Welfare Services - ZAWS Based in Livingstone, Zambia, ZAWS is a non-profit NGO that provides rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming for dogs and cats, as well as education and advice.

We organise community events such as mass vaccinations and spay & neuter campaigns. ZAWS was set up in 2015 with the aim of improving the welfare of domestic animals in and around Livingstone. Our work involves (1) rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming; (2) community education and sensitisation regarding animal care and animal rights; (3) mass vaccination programmes; and (4) population control via spaying and neutering. Please get contact us if you wish to be involved or can make a donation.

08/09/2026

When they were out in the field the other day Harrison and Gerald were told about a stray dog living in a drainage ditch. Using our hi-tech tools of a home made slip lead and a bowl of chicken they managed to persuade this little dog to come join the ZAWS family, where she will be safe and loved. She is now called Ellen (she was found in Ellen Brittell area) and has settled in remarkably quickly.
We now have 119 dogs at the shelter. We have call-outs to pick up 2 more dogs today but we just don’t have space and our storeroom shelves are empty. We literally have no food for Ellen and the gang tonight.
Please help if you can. A bag of dog food is K568/£22/$30 and we use 1 ½ - 2 bags a day mixed in with chicken & veg, rice or nshima. You can donate to Airtel Money 0977 681741 (Lynne Mendelsohn), Stanbic Bank 9130002075060 or via PayPal to [email protected]

Meeting people was VERY tiring!
05/09/2026

Meeting people was VERY tiring!

Join us at Kubu Cafe this Saturday to meet the pups. They are vaccinated, neutered and very friendly. Adoption fee and ...
02/09/2026

Join us at Kubu Cafe this Saturday to meet the pups. They are vaccinated, neutered and very friendly.

Adoption fee and home checks apply.

01/09/2026

I've been advertising puppies so I can find homes for Charlie and his friends but really I should have just called them what they are - cuddle monsters!! Lovingly hand reared, vaccinated and ready for caring homes.
Home checks and adoption fee apply.

Sky is the 27th animal to be spayed as part of our 100 surgeries sponsored by Animal-Kind International. She stayed wit...
31/08/2026

Sky is the 27th animal to be spayed as part of our 100 surgeries sponsored by Animal-Kind International. She stayed with us at the shelter for a couple of days to make sure she recovered well and is now going home with a bag of dog food and the post op meds she needs. She's been dewormed, de-flea'd and vaccinated against rabies as well.

She lives in an unfenced property in a high density residential area so the chances of her getting pregnant were very high. Now Sky and her owners will not have to deal with unwanted male dogs visiting or the stress of puppies. She was really happy to see her owners, which made up for the annoyance of the surgical collar.

Good luck Sky! You'll be happier and healthier now.

30/08/2026

I wanted this to be a happy rescue story, but its not. Sorry.
Yesterday at 11.23 someone sent me a screenshot of facebook post of a dog that had been pulled out of a septic tank. I managed to find the post, got a phone number for the property and by 11:52 we were there.
You can see from the vid what we found. He was totally unconscious. From what we can piece together, he’d fallen into the septic tank and probably spent the whole night swimming, trying to stay afloat. He was pulled out by well-wishers via a rope around the neck, but they were then too scared to do anything else, so posted on FB.
By the time we got to him, he’d been lying in the sun for around 3 hours after a night of scrabbling to stay alive in the septic tank. His breathing was ragged, there was fluid in his lungs, his abdomen was bloated, he was severely dehydrated, he’d ingested bacteria filled liquid and his heart rhythm was all over the place. I knew his chances were slim but after 3 litres of fluid he woke up, and that little spark of hope fluttered in my chest.
But he’d given everything and had no more energy to fight. This morning around 11.30 he passed away. It’s a small comfort that he didn’t drown in the septic tank, but not much. I really hoped that after such an ordeal he could recover to be safe and comfortable again.
There’s a lot more I feel like saying, but my heart is heavy and I know it won’t come out right. RIP big guy. There are a few more vids in the comments. I can’t quite get myself to put them all together.

29/08/2026

Today was a heck of a day, and I spent a large part of it smelling like a septic tank. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

The universe gave us a little treat at the end of the day, though.

This is Joshua and his puppy Paul, animal No. 17 in our spay/neuter campaign supported by Animal-Kind International . J...
28/08/2026

This is Joshua and his puppy Paul, animal No. 17 in our spay/neuter campaign supported by Animal-Kind International .

Joshua has been volunteering at the shelter since his last puppy died in the distemper outbreak last year. Paul is going to get the full works today. He'll be castrated, vaccinated, dewormed and de-ticked/flea'd and sent home with some nutritious dog food.

Our target is 100 animals by end of October. You know what I'm like - targets are only there to beat! Animal-Kind International - do you think we'll do it??

23/08/2026

We had a lot of fun yesterday at Zest with our puppy speed dating event. 9 pups and one adult dog were chosen for their forever homes with a few warm leads to be followed up. And we had entertainment from Ali Bullivent and an impromptu medley of top quality songs!

We visit every potential adopter so that we know where our animals are going and how they are going to be kept so that will keep us busy in the next few days.

Huge thanks to Zest Bar and Restaurant for hosting us and for everyone who came to see us. 10 adoptions is absolutely fantastic. Come on Livingstone, we still have a lot more beautiful dogs at the shelter. Let’s find loving homes for them!

Yesterday we went shopping for supplies to start our project to spay/neuter 100 animals in 3 months with our grant from ...
20/08/2026

Yesterday we went shopping for supplies to start our project to spay/neuter 100 animals in 3 months with our grant from Animal-Kind International. Dr Alison and the team are ready to go!

This is the best way to improve the welfare of dogs and cats, reduce the risk of rabies and other diseases and reduce the numbers of dog bite incidents. Its a win win all round. We'll keep you posted as to progress and show pictures of some of our patients.

We couldn't have taken on this extra work without the grant from Animal-Kind International so we are going to take it to the max and work our way through as much of the waiting list as we can.

Address

Please Contact Us For Directions
Livingstone

Opening Hours

Monday 10:00 - 15:00
Tuesday 10:00 - 15:00
Wednesday 10:00 - 15:00
Thursday 10:00 - 15:00
Friday 10:00 - 15:00
Saturday 10:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+260962865115

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Zambezi Animal Welfare Services - ZAWS posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Zambezi Animal Welfare Services - ZAWS:

Shortcuts

Share