South Africa: 8-year-old girl raises money to buy dogs to fight rhino poachers

An eight-year-old girl has helped raise enough money to buy two Belgian shepherd dogs in order to fight off rhino poachers in Mahikeng, South Africa.

What started as an innocent inspiration in the child, Alyssa Carter was determined to raise money immediately when she heard about the endangered species.

"It hurt my heart and I wanted to do something to help them," Alyssa told Netwerk24.

"I drew a picture of a rhino and showed it to my mom and dad. I wanted us to make stickers and sell them to raise money, but then we decided to rather sell chocolate, cookies and sweets."

Along with her mother, Alyssa was able to raise up to 300,000 South African Rand (£16,230) for the cause.

A local confectionary firm has agreed to manufacture chocolates and biscuits with the design Alyssa had drawn. The eight-year-old first sold the items at her school, later at a church and eventually at local shops.

As soon as she got to know dogs are trained to catch poachers, Alyssa wanted to donate the money to buy the dogs. Two Belgian shepherd dogs, which were already trained, have been donated to SANParks Honorary Rangers with the amount that has been raised by the little girl.