Ensemble look at people in the orbit of an animal shelter in Cape Town. Kate, the shelter manager, is having an affair with a married man, is estranged from her father, and has caught the eye of a widowed veterinarian. Lindiwe, a single mom, is a domestic for an Afrikaner household and studies at night. Her son becomes the acolyte of Jean Claude, a refugee from Congo with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he's the shelter's handyman, good with people and dogs, hoping to immigrate to Canada. Shairfa, who also works at the shelter, and her husband Habib are trying without success to get pregnant. What is it that holds the matter of the universe together?