My Story

Moya was found in 2019 near a farm in Botswana. Farmers tend to put out snares for predators who hunt their livestock and because cheetahs have a poor sense of smell, they must hunt a fresh meal every time which takes a toll on the farmer's income. 

Moya was found trapped in a snare and rescued by people who brought her to us. We devoted ourselves to helping Moya in regaining functionality in her lower left leg where the snare cut her tendons and ligaments. The wound healed but her tendons remained severed causing the paw to buckle under her weight. That didn’t stop Moya from walking and even sprinting. Most of Moya's pain faded; she is now a strong cheetah with a healthy appetite. We still wanted to do more for her and started consulting specialists about her situation. 

We have been fortunate enough to spark the interest of sponsors in various specialties to assist in this process to help find a better way to stabilize her leg and over the years attempts at a brace and other options have been considered. Unfortunately at the end of 2023 we decided not to work on Moya any further as the constant work on her paw and the need for sedation every time, puts her under unnecessary stress. Her paw is situated at a difficult angle and with her dew claw so high up, makes building and fitting a brace comfortably almost impossible.

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Although the brace would have assisted in gaining more stability, Moya is not in any pain without it.

   Moya taught us that we could achieve more as a community when we work together, and when it comes to our animals, it is ok to try and fail, than fail to try at all.