Our work
We are a Scottish-registered charity, fighting every day to end animal suffering and stop rabies in the Meru district of Tanzania. Operating from our permanent base at The Gongo Centre, we:
Save and care for sick and suffering animals and educate communities in animal handling and rabies prevention, in partnership with our sister charity Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue.
Fight rabies through animal vaccination and sterilisation campaigns, delivered in partnership with global non-profits, grassroots partners and volunteers from around the world.
Deliver world-class veterinary care, surgery and laboratory services and create training & employment opportunities for Tanzanian veterinary professionals at our Veterinary Centre of Excellence.
We call our approach Four Steps to Freedom.
Step 1 : Vaccinate
We eliminate rabies from local domestic dog populations through systematic vaccination campaigns that stop infection in its tracks.
#vaccination
Step 2 : Prevent
We prevent the resurgence of the disease by controlling local dog populations, in sterilisation campaigns led by international volunteer vets.
#spay_neuter
Step 3 : Protect
We educate local children about the humane treatment of animals, explaining the risk of rabies and how to avoid it.
#education
Step 4 : Sustain
We train local vets in small animal surgery skills, often neglected or insufficiently taught in Tanzania, empowering them to manage dog populations effectively.
#employment
Why fight rabies in Tanzania?
1500 people (mostly children) die of rabies in Tanzania every year, usually following a bite from an infected dog.
The threat of rabies has created widespread fear and hatred of dogs in Tanzania, leading to unspeakable acts of animal cruelty.
By taking action to end rabies in the Meru district of Tanzania, we are directly saving children’s lives today - and building a safer future for the region’s animals, for ever.
Rabies is the world’s most deadly disease for humans and animals
Rabies is 99% fatal and 100% preventable.
Canine vaccination and population control is the only proven way to break the cycle of dog-to-human rabies infection.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), The World Organisation for Animal Health (OiE) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have pledged to eliminate rabies by 2030
For thousands of Tanzanian people and animals, that will be already too late.
Four Steps to Freedom is run entirely by volunteers.
Our lifesaving work at the Gongo Centre is made possible by the generosity of our supporters and the volunteer vets, nurses, educators and animal lovers from around the world who travel to Tanzania every year on our behalf.
With your support, we will make rabies a thing of the past in the Meru district of Tanzania.
Mbwa Wa Africa means ‘Dogs of Africa’ in Swahili. Based in the Arusha region of Tanzania, Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue is an independent NGO founded in 2013 by Sandra Kliegelhoefer and her husband, Jens Fissenebert, a German couple living in Tanzania, to shelter, rehabilitate & rehome sick, injured dogs, cats and other animals.
In 2015, Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue premises became the official base for our anti-rabies vaccination, spay and neuter operations in Tanzania.
As our lifesaving partnership flourished, in 2021 Mbwa Wa Africa was officially recognised in the Tanzanian Government’s National Rabies Control Strategy.
In 2022, with our support, Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue relocated their animal rescue activities to our new permanent base at The Gongo Centre, where we work together to save more animals and make a bigger difference to animal wellfare throughout the Meru district.
Explore life at Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue on their dedicated website.
In 2025, our dedicated Veterinary Hospital and Veterinary Training Centre of Excellence opened its doors at The Gongo Centre. This state-of-the-art hospital is the first facility of its type ever to exist in the Meru district of Tanzania, and transforms our capacity to protect communities from rabies, and save more animal lives.
Our state-of-the-art veterinary hospital and training centre is fully equipped to:
Vaccinate 20,000 animals per year
Spay & neuter 4,000 animals per year
Educate 1,000 local children per year in the safe and humane treatment of animals
Train 24 local vets per year in vital small-animal surgery skills that enable them to keep local dog populations in check
Provide urgent veterinary care for sick and injured animals
Quarantine animals when they come to our centre
Prevent the spread of infection and isolate animals with infections diseases in our purpose-built isolation unit
Allow multiple vets to perform different surgeries at the same time in our surgical theatre
Deliver training seminars and masterclasses to local vets
Expand the lifesaving activities of Mbwa Wa Africa Animal Rescue
Shelter dogs and cats in our Kennels and Cattery.