Uproar over Bunny Park — overwhelming response to call to save the bunnies
A crowd of at least 400 is expected to turn up on Saturday (July 18), to help clean up the Benoni Bunny Park and feed the animals.
Following the recent uproar regarding the condition of animals in the park, members of the public have rallied together in an attempt to improve this Benoni landmark.
Leighton Edward James Pearson, a CBD resident, has shown concern for the animals in the park and created a Facebook page, Bunny Park Rescue, aimed at helping the park and its occupants.
At the time of going to press, the page had accumulated 1 250 likes and a post reach of over 20 000 during an existence of less than 24 hours.
Pearson said the group will meet in front of the park at 2pm and will include voluntary veterinarians and the SPCA, to assess the health of the animals.
Additionally, Karen Mills has offered her help with the donkeys living in the park.
She stressed that it had nothing to do with the recent uproar over conditions of the animals in the park and was in no way the fault of the caretakers, but rather a common form of dental discomfort one of the donkeys might be having, which is invisible to the untrained eye.
“The donkeys look okay to me and I only felt that the smaller one appeared to be battling to chew and its condition had dropped a little,” said Mills.
“I concluded that it may well be that its teeth needed to be done and a de-worming (process) would assist.
“All equines need to have their teeth filed from time to time as the protrusions which assist them to break the grass in their wild state are not needed when they are kept domestically and fed.”
She said three experts have offered their help to check up on the donkey, performing several check-ups simultaneously.
Jarred Sansom (an equine dentist), Simmone Kotze (veterinarian) and Anthony Ward (farrier) will check the donkey’s teeth, health and hooves in their own time, while Mills has offered to sponsor the de-wormer.
Many comments have been received on Facebook regarding the get together on Saturday.
- Karen Addison: “I stay on the West Rand near Clearwater Mall and will be there on Saturday.”
“I have a big car (van/minibus) and will be happy to bring through any donations from people should they not be able to join or travel that far,” said Addison.
- Morné Zeelie: “The whole community must get involved to save this place.”
“If not for ourselves, then for our future generations.
“I am willing to get involved.
“It is unique, let’s not give up,” said Zeelie.
You might also be interested in:
Gallery and Article: Bunny Park has a rich history
and
Public jumps in with ideas to save park
