A girl from Mahikeng, South Africa is determined to stop the poaching of rhinos. According to News24.com, 8-year-old Alyssa Carter raises money to buy dogs that are trained to catch poachers.

Alyssa’s interest in rhinos began when she was six years old. She was upset to learn that rhinos are an endangered species and that the number of rhinos continues to fall because poachers are still killing them for their horns. All five species of rhinos are listed as threatened and three of these are considered critically endangered, according to SaveTheRhino.org. In 2014, poachers killed 1,215 rhinos in South Africa alone.

“It hurt my heart and I wanted to do something to help them,” Alyssa said to 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.”Alyssa decided to purchase dogs after a breakfast with Louis Lemmer, the head of the Honorary Rangers’ executive committee, during which she learned how “sniffer dogs” could be trained to catch poachers.

With the help of her parents, Brian and Natalie Carter, and a company that made chocolates and cookies inspired by the rhino in her drawing, Alyssa has raised nearly 300,000 Rands, or about $24,700, in the past year and a half. This money has gone toward the purchase of two Belgian shepherd dogs. Now both two years old, these trained dogs, which are valued at R100,000 each, were recently donated to the SANParks Honorary Rangers with the goal of stopping rhino poachers in Marakele National Park.

As such a young entrepreneur, Alyssa has drawn media attention for her fund and was named a SANParks Rhino Champion. She began selling her products at her school before expanding to larger markets. Now, her website, which displays her goals and accomplishments to date and videos of her press coverage, also serves as a way of selling her chocolates to anyone who wishes to support her and the rhinos. She speaks regularly about her cause for audiences in Johannesburg.

Alyssa wants to continue her work until she can purchase a third dog for Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa. In the meantime, she is excited to be able to visit and see her dogs hard at work.