In the two months since Bathurst cattle owners made a desperate plea for aid to save their animals, 10 more cattle have died and there are daily reports of weak animals collapsing from hunger and thirst. In a particularly grim and dangerous situation, a cow that was discovered drowned in the pool from which Bathurst and Port Alfred draw their water supply remained there for at least five days after it was reported on Saturday. A combination of eating plastic bags with traces of food in them at the unenclosed landfill, poor grazing because of the drought and a lack of water is decimating the community herd that grazes on the Bathurst Commonage.
“At least 10 animals have died in the past month,” Bathurst Cattle Owners Association chairperson Khayalethu Sweli said this week. “Others are so weak, they will die any time now. “Just an hour ago someone sent me a photo of another cow that is so weak it can hardly stand.” A disaster of biblical proportions is recorded by cattle owners and residents, and photographs have circulated of cattle dying in dried-up dams, or on the road where they stood.
Meanwhile, residents of the village have stepped up to help owners ease the dire suffering they’re witnessing on their streets. We are faced with a major crisis that we have been trying for almost two years to resolve… Chairperson of the Bathurst Ratepayers and Residents Association Stan Esterhuizen said there was a village-wide effort to mitigate a desperate situation.
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He described an incident earlier this week in which a group of residents went to the assistance of a cow on the verge of collapse. “The owner of the animal, the SPCA, a private vet giving advice over the phone and the residents collaborated to get the cow back on its feet,” Esterhuizen said. The residents brought water and lucerne; SPCA manager Lisa Nyanya dosed it with vitamin B and Ivermectin and Kowie Vet’s Leon de Bruyn gave advice based on the observations of those on site.
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