Robbers terrorise Shongweni family

A GANG of armed men held up, threatened, assaulted and robbed members of the Shongweni Community Animal Rehab and Rehoming (SCARR) non-profit organisation last week.

Suede, a pitbull that was successfully rehabilitated after it was sexually abused by its previous owner, started barking just after 1am.

“He never barks. He is really quiet,” said the NPO’s founder, Michelle.

“The two pitbulls and the German Shepherd started going nuts. If they do bark, it’s because of the horses next door,” she said.

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Even though the dogs had quietened down, her daughter, Ashlee, was already awake in her own bedroom. The dogs started barking wildly.

Michelle opened her bedroom door and saw an armed man making his way through her lounge with three men behind him.

“He was a stocky guy, wearing a grey beanie, he pointed his gun at me and, in a foreign accent, said ‘shoot them, shoot them, shoot them!’,” she said.

“My grandson (9), is autistic and shares the bedroom with me. I went back into my room. Closed my bedroom door and quickly moved my bed up against the door so that I could get to my phone. If my grandson saw this he would be in hysterics.”

Ash opened her bedroom door, her fiance, Reynor, was behind her, and when she saw the group of men in her home she started screaming.

Reynor pushed her back into the room and grabbed two of the men. The fourth man fled the scene. Reynor attempted to push two of the men out the sliding door they entered through when the third man hit him on the side of the face with a sharp object.

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Reynor fell to one knee, stood back up, grabbed all three of the men and shoved the trio out the door.

The bigger of the three men fell over the chair and screamed at the other gang members to ‘shoot them, shoot them now’. Reynor then ran back to the bedroom with Ashlee.

Michelle made contact with her neighbours who started to gather at the front gate.

The men disappeared from the house but were able to steal a TV, Play Station and the company laptop. The next morning Michelle found the recoil spring of a 9mm gun on the deck.

During the robbery, the gang had assaulted two of the dogs on the property, hitting one in the eye and bruising a second along its back.

“What they have done is just too much for me. It is less about what they stole and more about what they have put my family through and the poor dogs,” cried Michelle. “They have all just reverted back to the way they were when they first arrived.”

She thanked the community, SAPS and Blue Security for their support and speedy response. To make a donation to the organisation, contact 031 769 1211 or visit the NPO’s website at www.scarr.org.za.

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