This month South Africa’s Springbok Casino pays tribute to people that devote their lives to rescuing and rehabilitating animals – both big and small, wild and domestic. These include sanctuaries for owls, donkeys, rhinos and wild animals that have suffered in captivity as well as a veterinary hospital that treats only wild animals.TEARS provides free animal sterilization and subsidized medical assistance in low-income communities across the southern Cape Peninsula. It provides basic animal healthcare and rescues homeless, unwanted and injured animals.C.A.R.E. (Centre for Animal Rehabilitation) rehabilitates young baboons whose mothers were shot as vermin. These traumatized babies are nurtured by humans, adopted by a baboon surrogate mother and finally integrated into a troop.Donkeys may be the most abused and overworked animals on the planet. The Karoo Donkey Sanctuary provides a home for abused donkeys as well as sheep, cattle, a zebra and giraffes.For security reasons, The Rhino Orphanage is situated in an undisclosed location. This care facility and others like it grew out of the rapidly escalating and heinous act of poaching rhino for their horns. At this care facility, orphaned babies begin their journey of learning survival skills.The Owl Rescue Centre in Hartebeespoort takes in poisoned and injured owls and rehabilitates them for release.Animal Defenders International in Winburg, Free State aims to end the suffering of animals in captivity. It rescues animals from circuses and gets them into sanctuaries where they can live out their lives in peace and with dignity.More information on these and other animal rescue organizations can be found in