Dog killer still at large
A vicious and violet dog killer is on the loose in Mahogany Street in the town and residents are out for his blood.
HECTORSPRUIT – Photos of the second dog to have been allegedly shot by this man, who has been identified by residents and neighbours, have gone viral and pet lovers in the area said “they will be looking out for him.”
Residents are now fearing for the safety of their children walking their dogs in the street, asking what my happen if the man misses the dog and shoots a child. The alleged killer also lives on Mahogany Street in Hectorspruit.
After purportedly having shot and killed a seven month- old Jack Russell belonging to Dorette Engelbrecht, a charge has been laid
last month against the man with the SAPS in Komatipoort.
It is the second dog of the Engelbrecht family to be shot in the street. However, Corridor Gazette was told that this man’s son’s dog, also a Jack Russell, is apparently allowed to roam freely in the street, but every other resident’s animal has to pay the price for living in a quiet neighbourhood in what one would assume is a small, friendly town.
The first pet of the Engelbrecht’s, a 11-month old Spaniel, became the first victim of this person’s pellet gun, but after R3 000 veterinary treatment, the dog managed to pull through as the bullet went between its lung and heart. The second dog was not so lucky and his owners found him with a pellet gun wound on the pavement. Once again, they had to explain to their six-year old daughter why her dog has been shot.
Another resident in the same street, said she heard the shot and saw the little dog running from the shooter’s property to die close to his home. The Engelbrechts moved to Mahogany Street two years ago.
Not only dogs are being killed, but Corridor Gazette was told that the Engelbrecht’s neighbours’ two tame peacocks were also shot and killed with a pellet gun. These exotic birds used to walk freely from their property to that of the Engelbrecht’s, to drink from their fish ponds and catch little fish.
Dr Steven Atkinson, a veterinarian from Johannesburg, told the newspaper that a pellet gun wound can cause extensive internal damage and animals shot by such a gun, die a slow, painful death.
The person who seems to be behind these senseless killings, apparently has bird cages at the back of his property, but the peacocks never entered his property and peacocks do not attack caged birds. The man in question apparently leaves his gates open all day for his son’s dog to visit, but as soon as anyone else’s dog accidentally gets out, it gets shot.
Outraged pet lovers have contacted Corridor Gazette. The story has been put on the newspaper’s online page, Facebook, it was tweeted and also on bbm.
Nowhere is there any sign warning residents of Hectorspruit not to allow their animals the freedom of the quiet surroundings. But with a killer on the loose, inhabitants of this beautiful, small town, it seems pets and childrens’ lives are now in danger.
Pellet guns can also cause severe injuries which may lead to death of a person and several cases have been reported. 16-year-old boy sustained a severe midbrain injury from a pellet gun through the roof of his mouth, while another 10-year-old boy sustained injuries to his neck and trachea, after being struck by a bullet from a pellet gun that had been fired unintentionally by an unspecified person. A 16-year-old boy sustained a penetrating injury to his right eye after being struck by a BB that ricocheted from a gun fired by a friend.
According to a spokesperson for the SPCA in Nelspruit, a case such as this depends on many variables and statements made to the police.
Almost every municipality in South Africa has this in their “nuisance” by-laws, stipulating that no person may discharge any firearm, airgun (pellet gun) or air pistol on any premises except premises or land zoned for agricultural purposes and which does not form part of a general plan for a township.
The website for the South African Firearms Control Act 43 of 2003, can be visited on www.airrifle.co.za and www.airrifle.co.za
Our readers will be kept abreast of the case and the public is asked to voice their opinions online. – Ed
