A KwaZulu-Natal farmer is scrambling to raise money to save more than a dozen horses on the brink of starvation in barren Lesotho.
The animals were confiscated as part of stock theft operations in Lesotho‚ and were likely stolen from farms over the border in South Africa.
Steve Black‚ of Khotso Horse Trails in the southern Drakensberg‚ posted on Facebook that a flurry of calls for help had been received from Lesotho police staffing an animal impound in the secluded village of Sehonghong.
“It is here that stolen horses are impounded by the police to await verification and collection by their rightful owners. Sadly‚ this rarely materialises. The pound has no funding for food and no direct access to water. The horses simply wait to starve to death‚” he posted.
Black said he was trying to raise money to feed as many stricken animals as possible through the hard winter months. He said that he would donate four bales of hay and will provide transport to the village.
“We are looking initially to raise between R5000 - R10 000 to cover fuel and buy as many bales of lucerne and bags of maize meal we can carry. There are currently 17 horses contained‚ which is down from 22 only a couple of weeks ago. We desperately need your help‚” he said.
The Sunday Times in April reported that hundreds of animal skeletons dotted the hillside in the village after they had succumbed to starvation. In Sehonghong‚ the closest water and grazing source is several kilometres away. With nothing supplied to the rustled animals‚ many succumb to hunger before they can ever be claimed by their rightful owners.
The theft of stock costs the agricultural sector in excess of R1.5 billion every year‚ with nearly 75‚000 cases reported to the police since 2013.
Anyone wanting to help can email info@khotso.co.za
-TimesLIVE
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