Sasha was the first of the lions and tigers to step from a circus cage into our care during ADI’s Operation Liberty enforcing Guatemala’s ban on animal acts. She was limping and had been in pain for years.

In the ADI Temporary Rescue Unit, we discovered that during a bodged declawing operation Sasha’s toe had been crushed and become diseased. The toe was amputated in our field hospital in Guatemala, but x-rays revealed cancer had spread up her leg.

It looked hopeless. However, once Sasha reached the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa, Dr Peter Caldwell performed ground-breaking surgery removing the diseased bone and rebuilding her leg with a titanium scaffold and bone cement.

Years of limping had caused the tendons to shorten and so she still limps, but these days she is pain free and will leap onto platforms. These pictures were taken yesterday in her 2.5-acre Jacque Habitat at ADIWS, almost seven years after her rescue in Guatemala.

With your help we give the animals we rescue the best possible life, even though their bodies are often broken by abuse. Thank you.