Cindy Van Aswegen shared a big thanks to the Stilfontein Animal Shelter for driving 800km to save a dog from being killed in a township.
Stilfontein, North West – Cindy Van Aswegen lives about 400km from the Stilfontein Animal Shelter which is located in the North West. She never dreamed that they would come to her aid so quickly or even at all. She had called them for advice on how to handle a terrible situation she had heard of and without hesitation, they offered to assist her.
Cindy’s gardener told her of his neighbour who was planning on killing his dog because it kept falling pregnant and just had her 4th litter in 1 year. Cindy offered to pay to have the dog sterilized to avoid it being killed but the owner refused. Cindy knew she needed to get the dog out of there and called Stilfontein Animal shelter for help.
“I had absolutely no idea what I was was going to do, there was no way I could go into that informal settlement (300km away) by myself.
I called Suzette from Stilfontein animal shelter (400km away from me) for advice. I did not even finish my sentence and she was already looking for her car keys.
Suzette and her husband drove 800km to assist me.”
Suzette and her husband Derick drove 400km to Maloto in Mpumalanga. When they arrived, the owner refused to hand her over and insisted on killing her. Suzette was persistent and managed to talk the man into handing the dog and puppies over. They named her Lilly.
“Little Lilly (she now has a name) together with her 6 badly sunburnt sick pups were rescued by these two amazing people, I was completely in awe when I saw the absolute commitment she had in wanting to get them out of there, not once thinking of her own safety.
We had to beg and plead with her owner to hand her over – he insisted to kill her.
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Lilly needs ALOT of medical help, but for the first time in her life she will sleep safe and warm, and with Suzette’s magical rehab skills she will soon realize that not all humans are cruel. Lilly will stay at Stillfontein animal shelter until she shows us that she is ready for a new home…”
The puppies are also thriving after having a proper meal and a warm bed to sleep in. Now that the dogs are all safe and in the care of Suzette and Derick, Cindy wanted to thank them for going well beyond the extra mile for Lilly and her puppies.
“Suzette and Derick, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, today you showed me that some people do still care, are still willing to drive over 800km to save a dog, whilst having a shelter full of animals in need of help.
You have a beautiful shelter, and the love you have for each and every one of those dogs in there are astonishing.”
Lilly faced untold amounts of cruelty including having her tongue cut. She can now only eat soft food due to the damage caused. Thankfully, she can have a much happier life. Stilfontein Animal Shelter have been posting updates about Lilly which you can follow on their Facebook page here.
We hope she thrives in her new life.
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