PITSO MOJALEFA, Bonaero Park, writes:
I was angered and disgusted after reading an article in Kempton Express on December 8, “No prosecution after alleged animal cruelty“.
The shocking piece described an act of obscene cruelty whereby a bull terrier puppy suffered horrific injuries when a sub-human monster dragged it by its collar next to his motor vehicle in Birchleigh.
What was most shocking about the incident though was that the manager of Kempton Park SPCA, Jan du Toit, said that it was unlikely the perpetrator would have his day in court as the police were very unhelpful when the animal welfare society tried to press charges.
The good news is that after many years of an extremely weak response from police and prosecutors with a lack of willingness to prosecute animal cruelty offenders, after failed applications in the Pretoria High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Constitutional Court has ruled that as a statutory state body, the NSPCA now has the right to initiate its own private prosecutions against animal abusers.
No longer will the perpetrators of awful animal cruelty, such as organised dog fights and rodeos, be able to regularly escape justice due to police and prosecutorial lethargy. Let’s hope the judges and magistracy take the prosecutions seriously and that they don’t give slap-on-the-wrist-Oscar-Pistorius-type non-deterrent sentences.
Maybe the Concourt ruling will result in a turnaround in SPCA successes. Hopefully it will inspire Kempton Park SPCA to pursue a private criminal prosecution against the Birchleigh monster.
Wise oracles say that you should judge a country by the way it treats its vulnerable people and animals, and very often we in South Africa fall far short of civilised behaviour.
Unfortunately, the Concourt ruling has been poorly reported, but hopefully that landmark decision will help to ensure a turnaround for NSPCA anti-animal cruelty successes. Much credit must go to our local Kempton Park SPCA for obtaining a court interdict in December halting the Ekurhuleni Council from holding a massive fireworks display at Dries Niemandt Park, which is adjacent to a residential area and which would surely have caused severe distress to local pets, wild bird life as well as to people averse to excessive noise levels.
I wish the Editor and staff of Kempton Express a safe and very successful 2017 and many thanks for their wonderful community service. To my fellow Kemptonians, I wish a heightened community activism to assist in correcting the ills of our warped society.
Remember, evil flourishes when good men and women remain silent. And most importantly, please don’t become another statistic of the disgusting 16 000 plus annual road kills in our country.
Become a responsible driver in 2017 and you won’t appear in one of the frightening road accident photos showing mangled vehicles and lost lives which are regularly featured in Kempton Express. God bless you all. Be safe and crime free.
