Zimbabwe Animals Rescued After Farmers Flee

by Patricia Collier

During the past three years in Zimbabwe, many animals found themselves plunged into peril when they were left behind in the chaos that ensued when the white-owned farms they lived on were seized by the Zimbabwe government on the orders of President Robert Mugabe.

As the ruling party's militants swept through the areas, many of the animals living on the land were reportedly abused, tortured or even slaughtered.

Volunteers have since been working feverishly to evacuate over 3,000 animals from the area, including dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, geese, swans, horses and cows.

British Airways has been flying the rescued animals to South Africa at no charge. Many of the animals were slaughtered during farm seizures, before help could get to them, but workers said more than half the rescued animals have now been reunited with their owners. The rest have found new homes in South Africa.

"Many of the farmers and their families have lost everything, so it means a lot to be reunited with their pets,' said Fiona Manuel, a volunteer at Wetnose Animal Rescue in Pretoria, one of the South African shelters that has been providing vaccinations and spaying and neutering services for the abandoned animals.

According to Manuel, the number of animals arriving at the rescue is now declining since most of the white farmers have now fled the country.

Rescuers are shocked at the abuse heaped on the abandoned animals by those who seized the land. One rescued dog had acid poured over his coat by militants. In another case, a Labrador mix puppy named Batty was left behind when militants chased his family away. After Batty's family had gone, the militants turned on the puppy and gouged out his eyes, leaving him to wander helplessly in the bush for several days before volunteers found him and airlifted him to safety in South Africa.

Batty never found his family, but was adopted by Pippa Nairn of Cape Town, who says the blind pup has become inseparably attached to Fudge, her two-year-old Alsation mix, but, nine months after his ordeal, is still wary of strangers and agitated by noise.

"I don't understand how there can be this cruelty," Manuel said. "Perhaps it is to spite the owners, knowing how much they love their animals."

"Cruelty to animals shows a person has no heart, no soul," she said.

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.