For the animals of Zimbabwe, the new year does not mean new hope. It means 365 long, miserable days filled with suffering and pain.
Without our help, many will not survive.
Credit: MARES
“The donkeys are collapsing and dying. We have no more feed or grass. Things are very desperate.” – Matabeleland Animal Rescue and Equine Sanctuary (MARES)
Zimbabwe is battling a severe drought that has dragged on for over a year, locking animals in a desperate state of hunger and thirst. The smattering of rain in Bulawayo has not reached outlying areas where animals have no food and no water.
Over 60 have already died in the area MARES operates in.
To make matters worse, the country’s severely mismanaged power supply means up to 20 hours without electricity per day – so even where boreholes have been drilled to access water, there is often no electricity to pump the water to the surface for the animals.
Dehydrated, rake-thin and utterly defeated, Zimbabwe’s animals are dropping dead as you read this.
Solar-powered pumps are a reliable way to bring underground water to the surface for animals.
We MUST install these pumps FAST.
Our long-term partner in Bulawayo, Matabeleland Animal Rescue and Equine Sanctuary (MARES), is a refuge for over 100 injured, neglected and abused animals. It also helps hundreds more every year through regular community outreach programs.
But with the drought stretching on for so many months, and countless animals relying on them for survival, MARES is in crisis.
“Our emergency supplies have been depleted and we [are] receiving calls that more and more animals are collapsing and dying.” – MARES
Credit: MARES
Even as funds, supplies and electricity run dry, MARES is inundated with calls to help animals in distress.
They are saving as many as they can, but without water or electricity, the situation is nearly hopeless.
We must raise $7,800 (approximately £6,200) to drill a borehole and install two solar-powered water pumps for the animals.
One solar system will run a pump at an existing borehole, providing a steady supply of water for the animals in their care.
It will also power vital veterinary equipment and lights for on-site treatment, empowering our team to provide crucial care for hundreds of gravely ill and injured animals.
Credit: MARES
But water isn’t just needed for the dehydrated animals – it’s also required to irrigate farmlands that are currently withering under the relentless sun, leaving the animals with nothing to eat.
With your help, we will drill another borehole and install a second solar system to pump water for around 30 acres (12 hectares) of land at the sanctuary to grow grass for the starving animals.
Hundreds of animals are facing starvation, dehydration and death. Will you help save them from their suffering?
With over 2,000 litres of water required every day just to keep the sanctuary’s animals alive, the need is severe.
Together, we can help these desperate animals, installing pumps that will provide thousands of liters of water every day. Please donate generously right away. Their lives count on your kindness today.