A terrible scourge of bush racing is sweeping through rural South Africa, causing enormous suffering for horses. With your help, we can fight it and save countless horses (and foals) from excruciating suffering and death.
In the Gouda area in the Western Cape, horses are stolen and abused by delinquent children who outrageously mishandle them in illegal races. Horses are forced to run up to 20 miles (32 kilometers) on treacherous rocky pathways through the African bush, often in scorching hot weather.
Even babies only a few weeks old are raced until they collapse from exhaustion!
The children and the gangsters who run illegal betting rackets on the race outcomes don't care at all about the horses. They are stolen to be raced until they drop.
That's what happened to a loving mother and her sweet little foal our team rescued.
We named the pair Molly and Lady. Molly and Lady had been ridden for almost 20 miles (32 kilometers) without rest, food, or water. The foal had collapsed from exhaustion after trying to keep up with her mother.
The mother and her baby were found by a farmer who identified the young thugs as no more than 12 or 14 years old. We are in the process of tracking them down. Molly and Lady have been relocated to a sanctuary and will never have to endure pain and suffering again.
Then, there was Caller. When we found him, he was thin and so weak he could barely move and had fly-infested wounds on his back. Our team rescued him.
You have no idea how cruel these bush racing kids can be.
One of the horses had sticks shoved in her private part while the boy doing it laughed!
Our team was able to rescue four horses on that mission, but we counted another 40 that needed rescuing. If we can count on your generous donation today, we will go back to save more, even though the coronavirus lockdown has made it difficult to travel.
Our partner, Have a Heart Equine Sanctuary (HAHES), has permission to confiscate abused equines, and our team is working with them to fight this barbaric practice. The most urgent need is for a horse trailer to transport the rescued horses to the sanctuary. They need $5,000, and we promised to ask our supporters for their help. Your donation will help save horses for many years to come.
It's hard to believe children can be so cruel, and it's easy to brand them as 'wicked,' but we have to remember these are kids from shanty towns and have no role models or guidance, and many of their parents are drug addicts who don't care. They've never been taught to care about animals, and we have to teach them. Once the lockdown is over, we will return to the community and start an outreach program to help young people understand how animals should be treated.
For the animals,
Brian and Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founders Network for Animals
P.S. In this time of the corona crisis, we are being flooded with urgent requests to help animals from all over the world. We are doing our best, but our work is only made possible by donations from animal lovers like you. Please make a generous donation today.