Written by Tebogo Maredi of Soshanguve Animal Shelter and Educentre NPC
Professional photography by Tania Cholwich Photography
The devastated little donkey foal had lost both her parents in a brutal act of cruelty when we rescued her on the 10th of February. Witnesses say her parents were attacked with an axe on the head around 4 AM (suspect unknown), and their bodies had been left there the entire day without removal.
The poor foal, lost and confused, was found sitting near a supermarket, unsure of where to go. No one in the area knows where they belonged. We immediately took her into the shelter, to give her the love and care she deserves.
It’s heartbreaking that such cruelty still happens, and leaving the remains there only adds to the trauma for the community and animals in the area.
We deeply appreciated the fact that Linda and Devon from FORA (Friends Of Rescued Animals) drove over 120km to get to us at Onderstepoort to collect the cute baby donkey the very next day!
We spoke for hours about challenges we face in animal welfare, shared rescue stories, and took advice on how to ensure growth in our small organisation.
Thank you FORA for all the wonderful things you do to help animals, and travelling all the way just to help the cute donkey. We’re certain that this little donkey will be well taken care of.
Linda Scrace, Manager of FORA (Friends Of Rescued Animals), and guardian of little Lagertha, shares...
Our little girl weighs just under 25kg. She took to the bottle pretty quickly, which was brilliant news. Thanks to our kind neighbours, Digby and Lindi Filmer-Donalson, who donated a bag of Denkavit (foal milk replacer) for her. After being without her mom for around 36 hours, it was a lifesaver. With the required intake of approximately 2.5l of milk daily, we’ll get her weight up soon.
She had a very bad case of rain scald/rain rot, with thick crusts all over her body, and she’d lost most of the hair on the top of her ears and on her muzzle from the rain scald. We did a medicated bath on her, but it’ll take a while before this is sorted out and a new, clean hair growth can come through.
She did have a few ticks in her fuzzy little mane but not a serious infestation, and she was dewormed.
I just knew that she was strong enough – she was urinating and passing a good stool, so that’s a huge relief as well.
Such an adorable girlie to whom I’ve bestowed endless kisses... at FORA she’ll be loved, now and forever!
