DESPICABLE! For years, we fought the GRISLEY DOG MEAT TRADE in Asia. Now, it's back... in Africa

My heart is heavy as I write to you today about the devastating reality innocent animals in Zambia are facing. The situation is dire, and it breaks my heart to say that animals in this African country are subjected to unspeakable abuse.

Adorable puppies are sold on roadsides and adult dogs are snatched from the streets to be sold at dog meat markets in Zambia, the Congo, Nigeria, Mali, Uganda and Ghana.

It’s an ABOMINATION and we need your help!

Image credit: The Cactus Foundation

THERE IS HOPE! It comes in the form of our partner, the Cactus Foundation, one of the few animal rescue organizations in Zambia. Together, we are doing everything we can to save as many animals as possible from this abhorrent cruelty.

The Cactus Foundation has a dog shelter near Zambia’s capital Lusaka. Despite the overwhelming number of dogs saved from cruel dog meat traders, they never turn a single one away. Currently, 232 rescued dogs are finding solace there until they can be given loving homes.

Image credit: Twitter/@mickwlemon

Lusaka is a transit point for dog meat traders who cram dogs into trucks without food or water and smuggle them to illegal markets. When police or local officials alert the Cactus Foundation that dog meat traders have been spotted, together they confiscate the animals and take them to the shelter. But the scale of the obscene trade is so great that the shelter is overwhelmed.

The number of rescued dogs is constantly increasing, and space critically low. Economic hard times throughout Africa have increased demand for any kind of meat, including dog meat; the criminal gangs have no compassion for dogs and capture and kill as many as they can.

Image credit: The Cactus Foundation

To make a bad situation potentially catastrophic, the Cactus Foundation recently suffered a devastating fire. A fire made worse because there is no running water at the shelter - all the water for the animals has to be trucked in. Because the shelter is surrounded by dry grasslands that easily catches alight in the sweltering heat of the Zambian summer, the animals are at constant risk of another fire breaking out with ghastly consequences. We cannot let them remain in daily peril of being burnt to death.

Image credit: The Cactus Foundation

232 dogs saved from neglect and the dog meat trade survived a fire. We must move and care for them. Please, help us today!

We have to move the shelter to a more suitable location, make it much larger and provide it with running water. And we have to do it now!

A piece of land has been found and some housing is already in place. If we can raise $8,000 (£7,000), we can get started relocating animals immediately. The new shelter will have improved housing areas for the animals, a medical center and open spaces for the animals to socialize, exercise and play.

Image credit: The Cactus Foundation

Will you help us build a wonderful new home for the animals rescued from the dog meat trade in Zambia? They will NEVER forget your kindness.

Your generosity will make a world of difference to these poor dogs. Every donation will help. Please, will you be the friend these animals need so desperately? Your donation today will be a legacy that lives on for years to come.

For the animals,

Gloria Davies (and Max and Flora!)
Founder
Network for Animals

P.S. Among the dogs living at the Cactus Foundation are 19 we told you about last year, who were being smuggled to dog meat markets in the Congo. We saved those dogs, and now we will do whatever it takes to protect them. The vital next step is a larger, safer, haven. Please, will you help us give that to them? They so dearly need it.