Richard Phillips, joint CEO of Cash Connect Management Solutions, said that while we plan our holidays and shop for Christmas gifts, criminals work from their own wish lists and seek to take advantage of opportunity presented by unsuspecting and vulnerable targets.

Jacques Meiring, owner of Divergent Ops, agreed and warned that this is also true for an increase in house robberies. Two of his reaction officers, Hans Kruger and Nathan Bushney, managed to cut short a man’s attempt to break into a house in Sarel Cilliers Street earlier this week.

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“My officers reacted to the distress call from a neighbour, and in conjunction with operational manager Tobie du Preez, caught the suspect before he could gain access to the house.”

The suspect had already broken the window and was in the process of breaking through the burglar bars.
The statistics for the first 20 days of October have shown that Wednesdays and Thursdays have been favoured for residential crime, while break-ins seems to occur more often on Fridays.

Callum MacPherson, regional operational manager at Hi-Tech, said 129 house break-ins were reported for Fridays for the year to date.

“Currently residences in rural areas have been getting a lot of attention, with areas like The Rest on the eastern front and Cairn on the western front being targeted.”

Another red light is the increase in dog poisoning cases reported in Steiltes and West Acres. This is often an indicator for other pending crime.

The greatest crime contributor for this year has been homes that do not have alarm systems or homes where alarms are not armed.

“This creates a safe operating time for criminals and has enabled them to commit multiple house break-ins in one evening rather than only one break-in for an area, as no one is actively searching for them.”

“Always make sure you have checked your yard for more suspicious food items before taking an animal to your veterinarian, as criminals will put poison in meat products. The animals will then ingest it easier.”

“Never touch any suspicious food product and avoid touching your pet if you suspect it has been poisoned. Many of these poisons can be absorbed by the skin. Wrap the pet in a blanket to avoid bodily contact, and remove any suspicious products from yard with rubber gloves or plastic,” MacPherson advised.

Crime safety tips
• Always arm your alarm, even if leaving for a short period
• Always close windows to avoid easy intrusion
• Put valuables away out of sight. Dog poisoning

Warning signs include: vomiting and tremors (shivering) and in most cases above normal salivation. Diarrhoea, small pupils and paralysis are signs of poisoning. Should your dog display these symptoms, please get them to a vet as soon as possible.

After-hour veterinary services contact numbers

Mbombela

West Acres Vet: 082-455-4595
Van Wijk Vet: 082-441-7084
Central Vet: 073-636-1989
Vet@ 66: 063-603-0301.

White River

White River Animal Hospital:
073-963-2748
Lowveld VET @ White River:
013-004-0283.