“Surely we can find a way to co-exist with the animals”
Two concerned animal lovers are asking that residents allow them to continue feeding local wildlife.
CONCERNED animal lovers who have been feeding wild animals in the Meyersdal area are afraid for the wildlife following residents’ complaints about their efforts.
Assuncao Mendes-Pinto, known to her community as Sally, has been feeding animals in the Meyersdal and Johannesburg South areas for close to 18 months. She stated that she has tracked and sterilised almost 800 feral cats, as well as provided food and water for rock hyraxes or dassies, yellow mongooses and hedgehogs that have been displaced by the construction of residential complexes in the Meyersdal area.
Sally has been joined in her efforts to feed the animals by Alberton resident, Tanya Walker, for the last four months. Tanya feeds the animals three times a week to allow Sally to visit other areas in Johannesburg. There are reportedly 15 dassies and a family of yellow mongooses living in the rocks near Michelle Avenue.
Residents have reportedly asked the pair to stop putting out food and water but Tanya and Sally fear for the lives of the animals if they stop. “There is nothing there for them to eat or drink. How will they survive without us?” Sally said.
Tanya stated that while she knows that a permanent solution needs to be found for the situation, she asks that residents allow her to feed the fauna in the meantime. “Surely, we can find a way to co-exist with the animals,” she said.
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https://comarochronicle.co.za/97113/caregiver-resident-nurtures-indigenous-animals/
