We received good news this week – our shipment of veterinary meds that has been waiting so long to get through to Gaza has finally arrived. We are very hopeful that a follow-up shipment of food will also arrive soon and promise to bring you news and photos of the arrival as soon as we can.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading a story that Dr Saif has shared with us about helping a donkey in need and the difference it made to the donkey’s elderly owner.
Thank you so much for caring and supporting our work.
News from Gaza
Most recently, our team have experienced a significant increase in calls from individuals urgently seeking veterinary assistance for their animals in central and north Gaza.
These regions, having been inaccessible until recently, and despite only being 35 km from Khan Yunis, is a challenging journey of at least 4 hours, navigating the Netzarim Corridor – an devastated area with extremely poor road conditions.
Despite this our Gaza team have been doing their utmost to respond, to reach and treat as many animals as possible.
Our team are travelling further distances to provide much-needed treatment to donkeys and horses
Just the other day, our brave team achieved something extraordinary. They received an urgent call from an elderly man in Khuza’a – a town just a few hundred meters from the border with Israel.
He told our team “while I was returning from my destroyed home in Khuza’a to seek shelter in Beni Suhaila, my donkey was hit by a bullet. Now, it can’t walk.” He paused, then added, “my only hope is that Safe Haven’s team will come and help my donkey.”
Our team headed out to help a donkey that had been shot by a stray bullet
When the team arrived the scene was heartbreaking. The donkey lay helpless and in pain, his leg was broken. The donkey is this elderly man’s only means of survival and his companion – so the team tried their best to help, immediately springing into action, cleaning his wounds and setting his broken bone in plaster.
The team helped the donkey by setting his leg in plaster
Dr Saif told us:
“When the team had completed the donkey’s treatment, his elderly owner couldn’t stop thanking us, his voice shaking with gratitude. For him, his donkey isn’t just an animal it’s his way of travelling and finding food.
We hope his story finds its way into the hearts of many. We’re hopeful the donkey will recover, and we’ll continue to follow up until he’s fully healed.”
The donkey’s owner was so grateful to our team for helping his injured companion
Thank you ♥️♥️
It’s only with your help we are able to improve the lives of working donkeys, mules and horses in the West Bank, Gaza and Egypt. You’re also helping to fund our hospital in Nablus in the West Bank and care for our rescue donkeys in Arrana, as well as our donkeys at our sanctuary in Israel.
Our team in Gaza is dedicated to improving the lives of animals in need – just like this beautiful horse.