Woman convicted in cat cruelty horror
Justice was served at the Pinetown Magistrate's Court when Samantha Bignoux was found guilty on 16 charges of animal cruelty.
THE voiceless were heard at the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court when Samantha Bignoux was found guilty on 16 charges of animal cruelty.
Bignoux was sentenced to six months imprisonment, denied ownership of animals for 10 years and convicted of 16 charges of animal cruelty.
The sentencing follows the horrific discovery of a large number of dead cats at a Glen Park home in June last year.
The carcasses were found at a granny flat at the back of the main property where the tenant had disappeared.
Also read: Dead abandoned cats found on Pinetown property
When the scene unfolded, The Kloof & Highway SPCA conducted a search of the property after being granted permission from the Magistrate’s Court after receiving complaints from the community about the owner who left the cats in the house unattended for almost two weeks.
“We tried pursuing an order from the court to enter the premises. We found about 20 cats who had died in their cages. All the cats who were inside the house had died, and there are a few outside that were in bags, but we are not sure of the exact number yet,” said Kloof and Highway SPCA manager Barbara Patrick.
The scene was also attended by Marshall Security’s Andreas Mathios who described the find as horrific.
“We found various carcasses in various states of decomposition scattered around a severely neglected property,” said Mathios,
Prosecutor Subramoney read out a Victim Impact Statement from Inspector Petros Simamane from Kloof and Highway SPCA: “Your Worship, I have been working for the SPCA for 19 years and have been an inspector for 15, and in this time I have seen a lot of cruelty, but this has been one that will stay with me forever.”
Patrick thanked inspectors Simamane, Abrams and Andrews for their hard work in preparing this docket.
She also thanked the Pinetown court for ensuring that justice was served, and every staff member and animal welfare person who came to court numerous times to support this horrific and inhumane case of animal cruelty.
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