Thanks to a phenomenal response to the Animal Welfare Society’s requests for help from animal lovers across the country, we have been able to continue with extensive daily patrols of all fire-ravaged areas from Rhodes Memorial to Cape Town.
The Animal Welfare Society also obtained consent from SANPARKS to set up temporary feeding stations at strategic locations for those animals fortunate enough to have survived the inferno.
Throughout the course of yesterday, the Animal Welfare Society had 3 teams working in the worst affected areas searching for animals in distress, checking on the availability of drinking water and setting up temporary food caches.
“Our presence on the mountain was welcomed by a number of fire-fighting crews who were very pleased to know that we had decided to provide some form of food relief for the animals”, says the Animal Welfare Society.
Despite the firefighter’s battle-weary appearance from fighting one of the most intense and destructive fires to ravage Cape Town in recent years, they agreed to alert us regarding the presence of any injured or burnt animals that they may come across during their patrols.
As a gesture of the Animal Welfare’s appreciation, they were kind enough to share some fresh fruit and bottled water with the firefighters before making their way back down the mountain where we encountered several groups of homeless folk who clapped and cheered as their little convoy made its way past them.
“We decided to stop and shared a few boxes of food with them too.”
“They were so grateful for the handout and relieved that, at least for that evening they would not have to go dumpster diving to find something to eat.”
The crowd quickly grew and after introductions, the Animal Welfare Society chatted to them about the dangers of open fires and the need to conserve our precious flora and fauna heritage.
The backdrop to the discussion was a blackened mountainside and the smell of carrion filled the air as they all nodded in agreement.
“Today we are back in mountains to replenish the food caches and will no doubt meet up with this charismatic group of gypsies who we firmly believe treasure our natural heritage as much as you and I.”
“We left them with our contact details and asked them to report any future suspicious activities to us and are reasonably confident that our message struck a chord with them.”
Picture/s: Supplied