Satin's story gives hope
Late on Sunday afternoon, Abed, a community campaigner for the Namibian Animal Welfare Association (NAWA), delivered shocking news to Janine van Rooyen, the association's chairperson."He sent photos of two horses that were badly neglected and starving. The one horse was too weak to stand. We acted immediately and provided food and water. Abed spent the night with the horses. On Monday morning we went out with a vet and our team. The horses were found on the Uiros plot behind Groot Aub in the mountains. It's impossible to get there without a 4x4. It is the most remote place we have ever worked and it takes about an hour to get there from Windhoek."
They quickly realised that the horse originally named Satan would not survive being transported. Satan was renamed Satin, due to his gentle nature, and he had to be fed until he was strong enough to be able to walk the approximately 20 km to the NAWE clinic in Groot Aub in a few days. There he will then be able to be picked up and transported to a safe space.
"For now we have to get his strength back and let him stand because a lying horse is a dead horse. We enlisted the help of four more community members and together with our two fighters, Abed and Aaron, and our NAWE team, tried three times to stop him. At this stage, he had been lying down for 24 hours. We managed it twice - once he was very wobbly and the second time he stood for about 10 minutes and his bodily functions worked immediately, which is a good sign.
Partial paralysis
"We suspect that he cannot stand because his hind legs are partially paralyzed due to tick fever. We removed over 1 000 ticks from his ears and immediately poured medication all over his body. Yesterday he received another 12 litres through a drip and with it tick fever medicine. We hope this will give him the strength to want to get up and move in the next few days."
The six men who now look after the horses and take care of them also know how to help Satin up.
"They can help him up with the least stress and without much effort on his part because he needs all his energy."
The condition of the mare that was found with him is much better. She walks around and eats, although according to Van Rooyen, there is not much food due to the drought.
Both horses will be removed as soon as Satin is strong enough.
"Our team is ready to go with him as far as he wants. When he indicates he is tired, we set up camp and start again the next day. So we will take it day by day until he can be transported."
Valuable assistance
Van Rooyen says the help and advice that flows in from the nearby community and from further afield is incredible.
"We are six women behind NAWA who work with passion to help animals. It is an incredible feeling to know that there are so many people standing behind us, not only encouraging us but also wanting to help. We have people who have donated feed or N$100 and we are grateful for every cent or donation. People gave food to our helpers, who spend the night with the horses. Help was also offered with the transport, vet costs and medication."
She says every cent is used to help animals in need.
Those who want to assist can visit the Namibian Animal Welfare Association's Facebook page for further details. – [email protected]