Hawston Animal Rescue

My daughter works with animals in Hawston. Hawston is a small fishing village in the Overberg with not such a great reputation, which keeps people from wanting to work in the comminity. A community where poverty is prevalent, drugs rule the streets and animals more than not get the short end of the stick, victims of neglect, abuse or dogfights.They are left to survive on their own because their value is none existent beyond being security for homes. Yet they are made to scavenge for food and seek shelter where they can when the weather turns bad. 

The whole outreach started with two pittbulls, a breed my daughter loves deeply. She saw a need, two souls crying for help. They were emaciated, being used as a breeding pair and sleeping in all weather with what can barely be called a shelter. She started feeding them and they bloasommed into the most beautiful dogs. In the process she build a relationship with the owners, got the pair sterilised, and she eventually build a kennel for them. Both were surrendered and lovely homes were found where they lived out the remaining years as happy and comfortable as possible.

Many people saw her do this and asked for help, this soon exploded and at any given time she was feeding up to a 100 dogs a day. A number that had to be scaled down as there ia only so much we can do. And still she feeds around 50 of the most needy, unfortunately there need here far outweighs the means to support it.  So for the last 11 years she has been helping with feeding, taking to the local Animal rescue org HAWS for medical treatment, sterilisations and surrenders. HAWS have been absolutely wonderful and suppirtive. When Covid started they stepped in and since have been assisting wirh Pellets and food donations.

My daughter jumos in where she can, not just Hawston. She has raised 3 pups from cape town who faced euthanasia as no one was available to bottle feed. Raising a pup as youngbas 8 hours, another 2 from Grabouw at 6 hours old. If she can help no matter how she feels or if she is busy she jumps in, dogs are her heart. (currently she is raising 3 again, mother poisoned) 

Her health is not the best, she has high diabetes, high bp, neuropathy in her feet and hands and fibromyalgia. Its a struggle just to hold a cup most days but she gets up and starts the day, taking. care of "her" dogs is what keeps her sane. She receives a social grant that barely covers living expenses. I see her every day in pain struggling to just mix the dogfood. When asked why she continues when its been such struggle all year long, people always complaining and. in general moaning, she simply says if not me then who, what will the dogs and cats eat, who is going to step in when I step out ... 

 The help she provides animals here comes mostly from generous donors from a locality called Onrus and donations in forms of left over or expired food and pellets. She will do without to provide for the animals, before she buys something for herself she will buy for her sttreetdogs. I myself am a pensioner and of no help financially. 

 

Now she is at a crossroads. In January her car had broken down. She had it at 3 different mechanics who all "worked" on the car but never got it running. Draining her limited funds. pFinally now she has it at a person who although the news is bad is trying to truly help, engine is done and needs replacing. Cost between 20 and 30k which she simply does not have. Her car has saved many lives, sterilised many more, picked up surrenders and picked up ones who were left on the side of the road to decompose and dissapear, the smell taking weeks to dissapate from her car.

She brought them home in her car, buried them, they are all somewhere in her garden. She drove to pick up her bottle babies in Grabpuw

, Cape Town and even all the way to Aghulas once. Her car has been driven fir so many good things, things she did with love and now unable to do. LShe loves animals and will do all she can to help them, sometimes to her own detriment. But without a car she can no longer continue to do this. I have seen the toll the walking in all weather at all times day and sometimes in rhe late evening has taken on her health, something she hides well from others. All I want to raise just enough to get it fixed so that she can continue to help animals here who would otherwise suffer and do so safely. It is not safe for a woman to walk at night but when she hears of a animal hurt or a possible poisoning she throws caution to the wind and is out the gate. The owners have little means to support themselves and she is the only person I know of who works/assists with animals here. She is heartbroken and my heart breaks for her. This is her passion, her life. 

If she has to stop so many animals will no longer receive food or medical treatment, many will be left to suffer through pain and either live or die because no one will be here to help with them.