A Loving Goodbye to Joy Hawksley-Hill, Who Gave Her Life to Saving Cats

Photo Credit: Persian Cat Rescue – Johannesburg

After her health took a turn for the worse this month, the world has lost a true hero, a custodian for Johannesburg’s rescue cats.

Johannesburg, South Africa (20 August 2025) – The world of animal rescue is quieter this week, but the lives of hundreds of cats are brighter, all because of Joy Hawksley-Hill. The absolute hero behind Persian Cat Rescue Johannesburg.

Joy spent more than forty years proving that you don’t need to shout to make a difference.

For decades, she was there for every cat in need, bottle-feeding abandoned kittens, nursing the sick, and finding homes for those nobody else would take.

It was a promise she kept right up until her final days. Earlier this month, Joy’s health took a sudden turn. With her loved ones and supporters by her side, a BackaBuddy campaign was launched to help cover her hospital costs. A small gesture to repay decades of kindness she gave so freely.

Sadly, the world lost a beautiful soul with the news of Joy’s passing on Monday, shared by her loved ones. The news struck hard, with many whose lives Joy had touched over the years mourning her passing.

“Absolutey heartbroken and shocked. Over 26 years working together, rest easy Joy, you were a true lady and always had the cats best interests at heart. The amount of time, effort, fetching and taking rescues you did was phenomenal and you will be missed deeply. You made such a difference in so many animals lives,” wrote Kitty and Puppy Haven.

Many others paid their respect, along with snaps of rescue cats they now call family, thanks to Joy.

Her love for animals went far beyond the rescue centre in Highlands North. In the 1960s, she helped with rhino rescues in Kenya. In the ‘90s, she joined conservation teams in Pilanesberg, clearing alien vegetation, and was made an honorary member for her dedication. She trekked across Africa and beyond, camera in hand, from gorillas in Uganda to pandas in China, always in search of wild beauty and ways to protect it.

Back home, she started a tour company to share her love of wild spaces, but her heart never strayed far from her rescue cats. Friends remember her as a force.

“Whatever Joy did, she did with passion, enthusiasm, and a driving force. There were no half measures for Joy,” wrote her sister Fay and her Persian cat rescue colleagues, Natalie and Tayla.

Her adoptions numbered in the hundreds, with her rescue work extending far beyond Persians.

Her impact was big. She touched the hearts of families she matched with furry friends, the wildlife she fought to protect, the friends and family she found through rescue work.

Fay, along with Natalie and Tayla, who called Joy their family, are still caring for her last rescue cats and making sure her work continues. You can find more about that here.

Her BackaBuddy campaign remains active, now carrying her legacy forward: covering the bills from her final days, and giving her remaining cats the care and love Joy herself always gave.

As her team at Persian Cat Rescue Johannesburg put it:

“Joy lived her life with extraordinary purpose, leaving behind a legacy of compassion, rescue, and devotion to animals. Her spirit lives on in every animal she saved, and every memory she created with those fortunate enough to know her.”

If you want to honour Joy’s memory, please consider supporting her BackaBuddy campaign, or even better, open your heart and home to one of her last precious cats, still looking for their forever families.

Rest gently, Joy. Thank you for loving so fiercely, for showing us what a life well-lived really looks like.