Cape Town animal shelter flooded after rains, NSRI steps in - but help still needed

News24

22-05-2025

TEARS Animal Rescue in Sunnydale, Cape Town, suffered major flooding during recent storms, damaging infrastructure and animal enclosures.
The NSRI responded swiftly to assist with emergency water removal and cleanup operations.
The shelter is calling on the public for urgent help with donations, equipment, and supplies to protect animals and to rebuild.
Cape Town's torrential rains this week left TEARS Animal Rescue battling the rising waters, as the non-profit's shelter in Sunnydale was hit hard by flooding over the past two days.
Videos posted to social media show rainwater gushing into the facility's kennels, cattery and offices, prompting a desperate call for public support.
While the shelter is one of the more well-known Cape Town animal welfare organisations, its infrastructure has not been able to withstand the weather conditions that swept across the Western Cape this week.
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A post shared by TEARS Animal Rescue (@tearsanimalrescue)
With water invading nearly every part of the shelter, staff and volunteers have been working around the clock to care for over a hundred displaced and distressed animals. The organisation assures that the continued well-being of the animals is their primary concern.
'This isn't just a rainy day — it's a full-blown crisis,' said TEARS in a statement.
'The drainage infrastructure has completely failed. We're doing everything we can to ensure our animals are safe, but we can't do it alone.'
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in Simon's Town, Kommetjie and Hout Bay arrived at the scene on Tuesday, assisting in the immediate clean up.
Footage from the scene shows NSRI crews using pumps and buckets to clear water from flooded rooms while navigating soaked corridors lined with animal cages and bedding.
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A post shared by TEARS Animal Rescue (@tearsanimalrescue)
'No animals were in any urgent danger and no animals needed to be evacuated,' said Simon McDonnell, NSRI Simonstown station commander.
'Water was pumped to an area that had better drainage,' he said, adding that the NSRI were always happy to assist in these types of incidents.
While the NSRI intervention has been crucial, the shelter remains in urgent need of resources.
Apart from donations, TEARS also encourages volunteers to invest their time in any capacity they can, encouraging the involvement of volunteers.
The call for assistance includes:
Three water pumps to urgently manage the flooding until infrastructure issues can be addressed;
Fleece blankets to keep the animals warm and dry;
R300 000 is needed for the emergency drainage infrastructure failure, which connects the municipal sewer line to the shelters. This repair can prevent future disasters.
To find out more about TEARS, click this link.
TEARS is the only facility in the Cape Peninsula's far South that is open seven days a week, and treats hundreds of animals a month, combatting various conditions, illnesses and injuries.
'Our core aim is to rescue, treat, rehabilitate, reunite, and rehome lost, abandoned, abused, and neglected companion animals and to educate pet owners and the youth living in the four under-resourced communities within which we operate,' the shelter said.
'Our programmes aim to bring about systemic change through strategic interventions based on community involvement and support'.