South Africa: Cora's Story Cont'd....

Kittens rescued and being cared for by Marina, an older rescued cat.

More from Cora, IFAW expert and director of CLAW(Community Led Animal Welfare) in South Africa: (read Cora's last entry)

...We had to rescue two crows and a snake from a Muti shop on Friday afternoon. Apparently the animals had been removed from a man who had been bewitched - by removed they meant that they had been surgically removed them from his stomach! Our local police were too frightened of being bewitched by the 'Sangoma', so they could not be called in for help. This situation was all in my hands!

Although we may have a very difficult time believing the crows and the snake were pulled out of a man's stomach, many do believe and practice witch craft as a source of protection. Witch craft is prevalent in this area and many times cats and dogs become the victims of these practices. The black cat is the most vulnerable to such activities.

After "extraction", the crows and the snake were put in cages without food and water. Instead food and water were placed outside of their cages so that their spirits would leave their bodies and go outside the cage to eat. This evidently would break the spell.

We have also taken in 5 more kittens. They were covered in tar when we rescued them. We spent hours on Friday night removing the tar from their tiny bodies. They are about 3 weeks old. Marina, an older cat currently living with us has adopted them. However, she does not have enough milk herself, so we are still bottle-feeding them. Marina's own litter were all adopted out into got stunning homes!

Stevie, one of many dogs we have rescued, also found a new home on Friday. He has totally recovered from his mange, and is now residing in the lap of luxury with a writer who works from home.

It is school holiday right now, so there are hundreds of kids appearing at our base clinic and also at our outreach clinics. Monitoring the "dip" (a bath that treats skin ailments) is a nightmare with such large crowds, and our spot-on (flea and tick control) is almost finished. But with help from supporters we are going to find a way to replenish.

Lastly we are preparing to assist local police headquarters with identifying firework retail "hotspots" this New Years. Last year was very successful and hundreds of fireworks were confiscated. Fireworks are threatening and often deadly for companion animals as they can run into busy streets frightened by the noise, so we are working very hard to help with the confiscation of as many as we can this year!