Pro-Life Pet Rescue | Karin Erasmus

When Karin Erasmus started Pro-Life Pet Rescue in Nelspruit more than two years ago most people thought it was quite a novel idea. Many however doubted how successful it would be and where she would find all the funds needed to successfully run such an endeavour.

By Benno Stander

Karin Erasmus and Anztelcia Fourie

Karin is however not one who is easily put down (pun intended) and for more than two years and over 800 successful rescues and re-homed animals later, she is eager as ever to make a difference in the animal kingdom.

When visiting her at the rescue centre she greets with a smile. It would be hard to imagine Karin without a smile and I think very few people have ever seen her that way. “I used to apologise for all of this,” she says gesturing at the puppies running around in the office and the grey-faced Chihuahua   keeping an eye on them, “but I don’t any more. This is a rescue centre so there will always be animals everywhere,” she laughs.

Most of the animals they rescue land up with them with very little background information. In fact, most of them need new names as their names are either not known or they have never had one. This is where Anztelcia Fourie gets to give her imagination free rein. She’s been naming cats and dogs by the hundreds and if you think that is impressive, she can also tell you each and every animal’s tragic story. Anztelcia is at the rescue centre daily and takes care of the administration and well-being of the animals.

At the moment the centre takes care of some 140 animals that have been rescued and are in need of new homes. Apart from being quite the task to manage and care for all these animals, they come with some hefty financial implications as well.

How Karin manages to keep going could be seen as nothing short of a miracle. But she has managed to go from strength to strength and Pro-Life just keeps growing. Karin constantly comes up with new and innovative ways to raise money for the centre but admits that without the support of the community it would never have been possible.

“Since we are prolife we aim to give animals a good quality life while they are here. That is why we wanted a bigger property so we could have bigger enclosures. We are very thankful that we were able to use the kennels at Plaston for such a long period as it did enable us to rescue so many animals that we otherwise would not have been able to. But the new rescue centre is more ideal and gives the animals more space,” Karin explains.

At the moment the centre has 10 dog camps that are 10x10m big and a large cattery with its own camp. Karin is planning to put more kennels up soon and also plans on adding a nursery for puppies and a quarantine area.  “Before we started building I visited Barking Mad in Jhb and the people were very willing to help us by showing how they operate and by giving advice about all sorts of useful things.”

Currently the centre also has about 50 cats. Many of them are very sick when they arrive and it is a difficult and expensive process to nurse them back to health so that they can be adopted. “The cats literally come from all over and we get many kittens that are found on commercial properties and the local taxi rank. The other day we even found a box of kittens that were dumped at a traffic light in Nelspruit. Unfortunately they were so dehydrated by the time we got them that only one survived,” Karin says. “In reality each animal at the centre is a survivor and luckily there are people out there who choose to adopt our animals and we are so thankful for every bit of assistance we get.”

Talk to us

Pro-Life Pet Rescues centre is situated on the R40 towards Barberton, right by the turn-off to Chimp Eden. Call them on 079-498-7971 or mail Prolifepetrescue1@gmail.com