SPCA field officer receives counselling after hijacking ordeal
Doctor Mthombeni was forced to relive a traumatic incident after he was, once again, hijacked while he was doing what he loves - saving the animals.
A KLOOF and Highway SPCA field officer is receiving counselling after he was hijacked in the Hammarsdale area.
Sarah Van Heerden, operations manager at Kloof and Highway SPCA, said that Doctor Mthombeni was doing what he always does – saving the animals.
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“He had received a call from an elderly lady in Hammarsdale who required our assistance with her cats. Sadly, as he was placing the cats in his vehicle, he once again felt the familiar stab in his back of a hijacker. This has happened to him before, and he recognised the scenario only too well.”
According to van Heerden, this was the second time that Mthombeni’s van as been hijacked.
“This time, he ran as in the previous hijacking, they had forced him into the vehicle and driven around with him,” said Van Heerden.
The tracking company tracked the vehicle within 15 to 20 minutes.
“The cats were found unharmed.” Van Heerden said this is the sixth hijacking their inspectorate department has endured.
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“Field Officer Mthombeni is receiving counselling, and on Thursday, he will be back in the field responding to the next animal that needs his help. Why? Because we care – because we do – because the animals need us.”
She asked the public to be patient and kind when they are informed that they cannot come out for a stray on the freeway at 24:00 or an animal that has been sick for two days but now needs their help at 01:00.
“Our inspectorate’s lives’ matter, and we will not take unnecessary risks,” she said.
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