GARC’s December 2025 Featured Platform User: Cat Angel Refuge, South Africa
We are excited to introduce you to this month’s Featured Platform User, Cat Angel Refuge. Based in the Ramotshere Moiloa District of South Africa’s North West Province, they have become a vital lifeline for animals and communities across an area spanning more than 7,000km².
Originally founded in 2011 as Angels Refuge, the organization transitioned into a cat-focused refuge in 2017. In 2019 their mission dramatically shifted focus when the community’s overwhelming need for animal welfare support became impossible to ignore. The local SPCA branch closed in 2012, and left a gap of inconsistent outreach, education, or structured rescue response in the region. Cat Angel Refuge moved into the old SPCA premises and today, they are the only rescue and outreach organization serving the entire district. They provide essential services that range from rescue and rehabilitation to public education and rabies prevention. Every animal that they sterilize is also vaccinated against rabies, thanks to support from Marico Bosveld Diere Kliniek. Local clinics, police officials, and community members rely heavily on the organization for guidance when animals show abnormal behavior or when dog-bite incidents happen.
Since September 2024, using the GARC Data Platform they have made the following impact:
Animals vaccinated: 405
Animals sterilized: 172
We spoke to Joanne Wilson, Inspector and Cattery Manager, about how they use the GARC Data Platform and the benefits they have experienced since partnering with us. She emphasizes that rabies awareness has become central to their mission. As an ex-paramedic, she understands how dangerous rabies can be, and GARC’s education resources have helped strengthen her confidence and credibility when engaging communities.
Briefly explain what rabies-related work you do?
Our organization has an outreach division that sterilizes animals. We also ensure that every sterilized animal we help is vaccinated against rabies. We are the only organization in the whole of the Ramotshere Moiloa Area of the North West Province of South Africa helping the community through our work.
How long have you used the GARC Data Platform?
We have been a dedicated GARC Data Platform user for just more than a year now.
What benefits have the GARC Data Tools provided you?
We have integrated the tools into both our outreach and shelter operations. The Platform has become essential in three major ways:
- It helps us to identify priorities and gaps: The data tools help us understand which communities we are reaching effectively, and which still need more education or vaccination support. This allows us to plan outreach more strategically across the district's 3 towns and 40 villages.
- Accurate tracking and reduced duplication: Because multiple team members and partners are involved in community work, the tools help us to prevent duplicated records and efforts. It also helps us to accurately track vaccinations efforts and the locations of various activities.
- Visualizing progress: Seeing our work through the platform’s mapping and reporting features helps us to demonstrate our impact to partners, the community, and potential funders. This is especially valuable for a small organization like us doing large-scale work.
As both a GARC Rabies Center of Excellence and a committed user of the GARC Data Platform, Cat Angel Refuge shows in action how data-driven decision-making and community-rooted passion work together. They really show how even small organizations can create a lasting impact, especially when they have access to the right tools.
Read more about their incredible work by following them on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelsRefuge/
Instagram: @officialcatangelrefuge
Are you working towards rabies elimination? Do you want to benefit from improving your data collection process? Do you want to be able to visualize this data to engage with potential donors in a more meaningful way? Contact us to become part of our growing network of GARC Data Platform users – click here.
Alternatively, if you are already actively using our GARC Data Platform, send us an email to support@rabiesalliance.org and you could be our next featured user!