Residents warn about dog poisoning

DOG poisoning in the city is still an ongoing problem.

Two residents contacted Kempton Express the past weeks talking about their encounters.

Barnes Moodley of Parkland Drive in Esther Park was lucky to save his dogs, as they were inside the house. Others were not as fortunate.

Moodley said he found a strange package in his front yard in the early hours of June 23. Upon investigation, he saw it was chicken hearts in a plastic bag. “Fortunately, my dogs did not approach this package and I disposed of it as I immediately knew it was poisoned. I then took my wife to write exams and when we returned, we found more of these packages in our yard.

“Again, our dogs were in the safety of our home and I removed it again.”

However, his neighbour across the road was not as lucky and his pet died after eating from a similar looking package.

Renee Saayman lost two of her dogs, Spirit as Simba, because of poisoning. They had both animals for nine years.

The first animal was found dead in the garden on May 11.

“The three other dogs became ill. They were stumbling over their feet, vomited and had abnormal breathing,” she said.

“It seemed they had taken in poison but not enough to kill them. The one dog had severe red eyes as if she had been sprayed with some poisonous substance, which slowly rectified itself over the days.

“Sadly, on Monday, June 2, when I left for work, I found that the padlock of the gate had been pried open. I couldn’t find one of our dogs. My helper later found him dead in the bushes in the garden.”

Saayman went to Norkem Park Police Station to open a case. She told the officer she had already buried the dog. She was told they were short staffed and the sector vehicle would be around later to take a statement and open the case. By the Friday she was still waiting.

“I called again the Saturday and they eventually pitched, asking where the dog was. I explained the situation and that I did mention the dog had been buried when I was at the police station. The police would not open a case due to the fact that the dog had been buried and was meant to be sent by the state for pathology tests to determine what poisoned was used,” Saayman said.