“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mahatma Gandhi
Fisantekraal Animal Welfare was started in 2005 by Rosa Pheiffer who discovered that the animals of Fisantekraal were in desperate need of help. With the help of volunteers, the Animal Anti-Cruelty League (AACL), and local vets, hundreds of sterilisations were done.
Sadly, in those days, around 5000 animals had to be euthanased due to disease and neglect. However, because of the tireless efforts of FAW and friends, this sad statistic has really been turned around. We have grown vastly and have many dedicated volunteers.
We sterilised over 400 animals in 2012 alone!
FAW has vaccinated over 1500 animals against rabies, canine parvovirus, and distemper, and we’re seeing a steady improvement in the health of the animals we deal with. What’s more, over 200 sick and/or injured animals have been helped back to health – euthanasia is now only used when absolutely unavoidable in order to end real suffering. We’re able to treat animals suffering from mange, and dip to combat fleas and ticks. (See The facts page for more details.)
A subsidised food programme allows the residents to purchase small amounts of dog or cat
food at affordable prices, without having to travel into Durbanville (an impossibility for many of the residents) and pay high prices; Hungry dogs are regularly fed by FAW’s dedicated volunteers. Our kennel project, which involves donated kennels or those made by two enterprising young men from Fisantekraal out of old pallets, has seen many a dog stay warm and dry in winter.
Rosa Pheiffer
Without the kind financial and other donations from the public, and the work of our volunteers, local vets, vet nurses, AACL, Uitsig Animal Rescue Centre, and many others, this wouldn’t be possible. We say THANK YOU to all our supporters, and give a resounding round of applause to Rosa Pheiffer for founding Fisantekraal Animal Welfare.
As insurmountable as any problem may seem, always remember the Dalai Lama’s wise words: “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try going to bed with a mosquito.”
Letter from Rosa Pheiffer
In February 2005 I visited a farm just outside Durbanville where I picked up two kittens lying under a bush. One of the farm labourers, Karlien, asked whether her friend Ansie, who lives in Fisantekraal, could have them for a birthday present as she loves animals very much. Up to that stage I did not even know the place existed! The next weekend I visited Ansie to make sure the kittens were doing well. As I drove in I saw a dog that looked like he was convulsing. I phoned Animal Welfare who came to pick the dog up and the Inspector told me it was distemper (a virus in the brain). I was driven to go to Fisantekraal again the next weekend where I saw a dog with no hair on his body. He looked horrible! Again I phoned Animal Welfare and this time it was mange! I then realized that these animals need help. Since then I have been spending virtually every weekend (now two years) in Fisantekraal transporting sick animals to hospitals and feeding the hungry ones. I also have a full-time job, but in between all that I managed to take all the cats and dogs of the farm labourers to Animal Anti-Cruelty League in Epping for sterilization. I saw that the breeding of the cats and dogs were out of control. Animal Anti-Cruelty League started in June 2005, picking up six animals every Friday and six every Saturday for sterilisation at their hospital in Epping. Although I was grateful for this help, I realized that the progress was too slow and I approached the private vets of Durbanville for help. Since December 2005 we have had a Spay-a-thon every school holiday at the Trevor Manual school in Fisantekraal where between 80 and 90 animals get sterilised in one morning. On the sad side, from February 2005 until today, approximately 5 000 animals have had to be put to sleep due to illnesses, or they were unwanted because owners cannot afford them or strays without permanent homes. As far as possible we try to find other homes outside Fisantekraal but due to the high numbers it is not always possible. Since December 2006 the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) runs a primary health care clinic in Fisantekraal every Tuesday. They also take four dogs and four cats to their hospital in Bridgetown for sterilisation, return them the next Tuesday and pick up the next eight animals again. The people of Fisantekraal are very greatful for this service!!
Note from FAW: since Rosa wrote this letter, many sterilisation procedures, etc. have since changed as per the rest of this website.
Dogs waiting for food in Fisantekraal.
