Blindlove Continues to Help Animals Despite Recent Challenges
Our partner group in South Africa, Blindlove, had a heartbreaking month in March. They dealt with a shocking case of cruelty and an outbreak of the deadly African horse sickness.
Despite these setbacks, the team managed to conduct multiple community outreach days, where they reached 32 working donkeys and 115 cart horses.
DONKEY OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
Blindlove held their donkey outreach clinic in Grahamstown on March 22nd. It was a scorching hot day! Thirty-two donkeys and two horses attended. Many children accompanied their donkeys to the clinic, giving the team a great opportunity to educate them about how to take good care of their animals.
Donkeys were dewormed, provided with wound care, treated for parasites, sprayed for flies and given general health checks. Harnesses were checked and replaced where needed.
After the outreach, the team were taken to a young donkey who had been badly burnt. Blindlove immediately contacted a nearby vet clinic so they could obtain the necessary medications for this poor donkey.
The vet team disinfected the little donkey’s burns and noticed the one on his shoulder was very deep. Unfortunately, because his wounds had been left for a couple of days, they were already infected with maggots. The baby donkey was also given antibiotics and painkillers.
Another vet followed up this case two days later. Sadly, she had to make the decision to put this poor soul to sleep. The vet team were all deeply shocked by this cruelty case and, together with the SPCA, are offering a reward for any information that might lead to an arrest. Blindlove believe the donkey’s owners and community know who committed this heinous act, but are too terrified to come forward for fear of what this person might do.
On a more positive note, last month the SPCA asked Blindlove for six more humane harnesses. The SPCA distribute these to owners who don’t attend donkey outreach clinics.
HORSE OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
It was another busy month for the team in the Thaba’Nchu area, where they held ten outreach clinics and saw 115 cart horses.
At these outreach clinics, Blindlove treated horses for a variety of ailments and administered medications to control parasites. Unfortunately, they saw many saddle sores due to horses being ridden bareback after working hours or at weekends. Harnesses were also checked and replaced where needed.
On March 1st, the Blindlove team were notified that a horse in the rural village of Moraga had died from the dreaded African horse sickness. The team immediately put together an educational flyer to circulate amongst horse owners. This highlighted symptoms to look out for, how the disease is spread via biting midges, and simple measures owners could take to protect their horses.
Despite this early response, the number of horses showing symptoms just kept climbing. Some were literally dropping dead a few hours later. There have been many deaths across the country, with horses in rural areas most affected. Blindlove are incredibly grateful that, so far, no horses in their area of Thaba’nchu have been infected.
The team have made up a dip that they will distribute to horse owners in spray bottles. This will hopefully help to prevent midge bites. They are also distributing a product called Supaboost, which will strengthen the immune systems of horses in affected areas. Blindlove are also pushing for a more effective vaccine to be made available.
The team will continue their hard work educating owners and providing support as and when required during this outbreak.
Although March has been an exhausting and emotional month for the Blindlove team, they remain committed to enhancing the welfare of working animals in South African communities.
Heartfelt thanks go out to all of our caring donors. You are supporting Blindlove’s vital programs and making an enormous difference for working equines in need.