No cat or puppy too ill or feral for intrepid East London trio

“No-one wants to handle them or go near them.” 

For years, three women have been dedicating their lives to saving “lost causes” — domestic animals deemed too feral or sick to survive. 

Janielle Hulme, 27, and her sister, Brittany, 25, have been nursing kittens and puppies back to life with long-standing animal rescuer Manuela Di Raffaele-Chaput, 57, as part of their work at Four Rivers Animal Rescue. 

Named after the four rivers of East London, the rescue centre operates as a network of six foster homes (including their own) for abandoned, sick or feral kittens, puppies and adult cats.

They also trap and sterilise cats from feral colonies or informal settlements and provide remedial medical assistance.

“We’ve always loved animals, and have always helped each other and have been rescuing for as long as we can remember,” Janielle said.

“I got a nickname in primary school because everyone knew if they found anything injured or a bird that had fallen out of the nest they would call me and I would take it home.” 

Raffaele-Chaput said: “I’ve had over 100 cats coming in and going out this house, easy.”

All three women are employed and are often called out at all hours for vet runs, to check traps or to pick up abandoned animals.

Janielle works as a recruitment consultant and studies economics at Unisa.

Brittany is a registered ICU nurse and Raffaele-Chaput is a private tutor of foreign languages. 

The three have rehomed more than 125 cats and 16 dogs since September 2023 and are taking care of 20 rescues at present.

“We connected online before we started to collaborate because so many animals needed care,” Brittany said.

Raffaele-Chaput added: “We find animals which are abandoned, sick or psychologically traumatised.

“When they get abandoned we do not find them immediately — cats are elusive creatures by nature. Sometimes it takes weeks.”

They have found kittens in dustbins and in abattoirs and take in days-old babies that need constant bottle feeding. 

Janielle said: “We recently had two cases with severe eye infections found at an abattoir. [The first] had to have eye surgery.

“Two weeks later we found his sibling in pitiful condition, probably the worst case we’ve ever seen.”

All expenses are split between them and any donation received goes towards the vets’ bills or cost of sterilisation.

A small “adoption” fee also goes towards the costs of vaccines, tests or care.

They hope to register as a formal nonprofit soon.

Brittany said: ''I pick up a lot of extra shifts to fund what I can on my end. The majority comes out of our own pockets.”   

This year they have focused on Amalinda township, and make weekly trips there, offering medical care to animals, advice to their owners and facilitating sterilisations. 

“As a nurse, I always take IV lines with me and basic wound care because a lot of dogs get fly-bitten ears (called flystrike, a serious condition caused by flies laying eggs on an animal that, when hatched, eat the flesh of their ‘host’) and unfortunately there’s nothing much you can do,” Brittany said. 

“We have to treat it on the spot and go back in a couple of days to change the dressing and treat it again.”

Raffaele-Chaput said that they also addressed misconceptions about sterilisation.

“We try to educate people that sterilisation is not taking anything away from the animal — you are actually prolonging their lives, you are creating a better environment as it’s normally intact male dogs that attack children. But it’s very difficult.” 

The story of a litter of 12 puppies infected with canine parvovirus was closely followed by the East London animal community.

The women shared their journey online, detailing the gruelling months of heartbreak and recovery.

“We lost six of the 12 puppies. The parvo puppies would have been euthanised.

“We were told to euthanise them. The amount of ‘nos’ we got because of the likelihood of them pulling through!” Janielle said.

All six of the surviving puppies have since found loving homes. 

Brittany said: “All the animals we take in, the kittens, all the puppies, any animal, more than likely would get turned away by any other rescue.

“They aren’t going to take ferals, they just don’t have the time or resources to take a cat that will attack you to socialise them and make them adoptable.”

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