I WOULD like some answers from the Kloof and Highway SPCA.
As a resident of Winston Park, I was one of the many people shocked and horrified by the behaviour of a “gentleman” who chose to bring his dog into our neighbourhood and end its life with four shots from a high calibre weapon, within hearing and visual range of at least four homes.
It took four shots to kill the animal, which could be heard screaming in pain and terror until the final bullet killed it.
There was a massive outcry of anger and disgust and a manhunt for the culprit, all of which the SPCA promised to follow up on.
To date, we are yet to hear what became of this man and what his punishment for this act of cruelty is – if any. Whether or not this dog bit this man is beside the point. Had the dog attacked him, why did he not just shoot it where it stood or contact the SPCA to deal with the dog?
ALSO READ: Man appears in court for shooting, killing dog in Winston Park
Instead, he put this supposedly dangerous and out of control animal into the confined space of his vehicle and drove it out into another neighbourhood to end its life. Coupled with the cruel act, what about the crime of discharging a weapon in a residential area? It’s inexplicable that there has been no consequence to his actions.
And what is more inexplicable is the Kloof and Highway SPCA’s lack of information to the public about this event.
What is being done to punish this individual and make an example out of this kind of behaviour? This is the task of the SPCA after all, is it not?
We will all be waiting for an answer to this.
Jenny Gevers
Winston Park
The Kloof and Highway SPCA responds:
The Kloof and Highway SPCA has been following up on this case since it was opened by the witness in December 2018.
Sadly the reality is that we all have to work in conjunction with the justice system. The Public Prosecutor involved has requested ballistic testing on the cartridges found on the scene, as well as further investigation feedback from the Hillcrest SAPS.
Sue Noakes, our inspectorate manager at the Kloof and Highway SPCA inspectorate, is in continuous contact with Hillcrest SAPS, that has informed us there is a backlog of several months on any ballistic testing, and they are still investigating.
Even though the Kloof and Highway SPCA Inspectorate deals with this reality, we never stop fighting for each and every animal when a cruelty case is opened.
Animal cruelty cases take on average two to four years to get on the court roll. In December 2018 we obtained a guilty plea in a case opened in 2014.
On 12 December 2018, a guilty plea to two counts of animal cruelty was obtained at the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court after pursuing the case for nearly three years and 16 court appearances.
We thank members of our community for their support to ensure we able to make sure that our cases are heard in court.
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