Cape Town - Through gaping wounds and shattered spirits, the plight of mistreated donkeys has recently seen former police officer Marc Ward and his wife, Vicky receive the Brian Davies Award for their dedication in building a sanctuary for abused and neglected farm animals on the outskirts of the Cape Winelands.
The Have a Heart Equine Sanctuary, which exists to educate the community about equine care and rehabilitation, was founded in 2017 by Ward and his wife, after they discovered two horses who had been abandoned in Bonnievale.
Ward’s wife, who was working for a stud farm at the time, took the horses in and cared for them as their own children until their health improved. Ever since then, the former policeman recognised his duty to make a difference elsewhere.
“I always wanted to make a difference in the world, after leaving the police I tried various other jobs, then I met my beautiful wife who loves animals so much after we got married. I tried to farm and other jobs which all failed. I was inspired by my wife’s huge heart and her love for all animals then after the first rescue overnight I decided that saving horses is what I wanted to do. At least this way I could make a difference in the world and there is no more rewarding job in the world than when you save an animal,” said Ward.
Having to be a passionate person, Ward describes how tough it was witnessing an animal in distress despite the circumstances they faced building the sanctuary up from scratch.
“Starting a sanctuary is one of the hardest things my wife and I have ever done. We found a property after the first rescue we did when we wanted to do this full time. However the property had just bushes and an empty dam with a broken borehole. The house was an old farmworkers house, with no windows or doors and was half filled with termite sand, but we had a vision for the property despite my wife being the only one working and earning just enough to get us through.”
“I approached the land owners at the Mooi Uitzicht wines, owned by the Jonkers and they were the kindest people. I explained that we were wanting to start a sanctuary and despite being puzzled at first considering the condition of the place, we were sponsored the land free of charge and the only task was left for me to do was source water, but luckily our kind neighbour allowed me to get water three times a day from his farm.”
“For two years we never had running water or electricity, we saved every cent and found ways of raising money so that we could feed the horses and and save to buy 6km of piping for us to get water from the borehole. That took three years before we had running water and now have enough power for a fridge and washing machine,” said Ward.
As the award aligns with the ethos of the Network for Animals (NFA) animal welfare organisation, NFA executive director David Barritt said that the sanctuary stood out because of how swiftly it had grown since its inception and how innovative their strategies had been in dealing with equestrian abuse in extremely challenging conditions.
“The Gold Brian Davies Award is the highest accolade the NFA gives and it goes to people and organisations that have achieved extraordinary progress for animal welfare under difficult circumstances. The Have A Heart Foundation stands out because of how quickly Mark Ward and his wife developed the foundation and their innovative approach to solving issues around equine abuse.”
“In addition to rescuing and medically treating injured horses and donkeys, Ward has the utmost sympathy for the impoverished communities where abuse, particularly donkey abuse, takes place. With the help of NFA, Ward and his team teach local donkey owners how to properly care for donkeys to ensure that they are properly fed and well nourished.”
“With our help he also supplies humane harnesses for donkeys so that their sensitive mouths are not injured when pulling carts. Creating an inspectorate that will take on the challenging task of taking serious abusers to court, his expertise as a policeman in this area will be an invaluable asset to the cause,” said Barritt.
Ward said that his goals for the sanctuary are to continue to save as many horses and donkeys as they can and also continue to teach as many people about how to care for horses.
“I have cried more tears in this job than any other, especially when you have to make the tough calls for a horse or donkey so that they don't have to suffer anymore. So when my wife and I received the email, we both burst into tears because we never expected it. All we can say is thank you to everyone who helped us get to this point and to everyone who had given us a chance, especially NFA for supporting us.”
“We have been privileged in rescuing over 500 horses and donkeys because we believe that it is so important to help equines as some people do not understand how costly it is to have a horse leading to them being starved or abandoned. Horses, to me, have such healing ability and we would not give it up for anything because they need us.”
“Our goals for the sanctuary are to continue to save as many horses and donkeys as we can and to continue to teach as many people on how to care for horses and not to neglect or abuse them,” said Ward.
Weekend Argus