25/08/2025
😢It's been a weekend of 1 WhatsApp message and phone call after another, and today has been no different.
And from ALL over Durban - Ballito, Bluff, Yellowood Park, Toti, ShakasHead, Chatsworth, Verulam, Tongaat and Phoenix. Emergencies of every kind - animals on freeways, animals being abused, mom and pups no longer wanted, please can we help with food, please can we help with sterilisations, reports from neighbours about dogs on chains, backyard breeding, pregnant cat dumped, new born kittens, bottle feeding pups where mom has died and pups have been left for 4 days with no nutrients (they all died within an hour of the call), pup with Parvo and no funds to take to a vet.....the list just goes on and on. And that does not include all the posts we are tagged in for help, or the huge amount of messages we get from "WhatsApp Rescuers" - who send every single case through to us, sometimes multiple times from multiple people.
We want to help - but we are a small team. 1 private vehicle, just Shaun to go on calls outs. We do not earn salaries from SAFE, we have to work to support ourselves. We do not have any corporate support or big donors (we have tried for over 3 years, and keep trying) - we have a handful of faithful few who, every month out of their own pockets, give what they can (THANK YOU). We are woefully short this month again - we did not even reach a third of what we were meant to raise to cover expenses. Vet bills to cover rescue calls out, kennel fees for rescued animals already in, then food for over 120 animals, and vaccinations are needed on the ground urgently. The vehicle we have is our own private vehicle and is clocking insane mileage, plus not equipped to do the type of work it is being asked to do.
This weekend we were "accused" in a community group because, apparently, we told someone to call the SPCA - and we know the animal will just get "put down". The reality is that when we are on the other end of Durban on rescue, and an animal is seen on the road by you, it is friendly and desperate for help, and is either going to be knocked over and injured, killed, stolen, starve or any number of horrific scenarios - we cant get there - and if you have tried every other org and they say they cant help you for whatever reason - then the kindest thing for the animal is to take it to the SPCA or hand it in at the vet. We are not being insensitive or uncaring - it is the responsible thing to do for the animal, we just can't get there.
So we are sorry, but we just can't keep rescuing at the rate we are being asked to, with the funds we have and the manpower at hand. We have to close to NEW cases until we can sort out meeting our current HUGE obligations, and honour the ones we already have in (who are just as important and in need) and to who we have responsibilities to.
We know everyone is full, we know it is heartbreaking, we know it is urgent, we know there is no one else answering your calls or responding to your messages, but we also do not have a solution or answer with the need vs finance, support and manpower. It has to be balanced. We can only rescue within the resources that we have. So for now - the team has to focus on the work we already have on our plate (which is a lot), or we are going to drop the ball, and an animal is going to suffer.
