The SPCA could not conceal its shock when it walked into a hoarding nightmare, where a woman and her 95-year-old mother were living with 16 dogs.

The organisation’s chairperson, Lize Pienaar, said they responded to a complaint and visited the house last Tuesday, January 14.

“The house was filled with heaps of clothing and household items. The smell was intolerable. We were shocked to learn that the animals were living in these conditions. Mice and dog faeces were visible in the whole house and the smell of ammonia was overwhelming. Exposure to ammonia is dangerous as it may cause respiratory issues for both animals and humans,” Pienaar said.

She added that the dogs were in good physical condition, however, their living situation was unacceptable.

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“We reported the matter to the by-law enforcement department, who issued a warning to the owner to reduce the number of dogs to only two. On Tuesday, January 21, we went back to find only three dogs remaining. When we questioned the woman, she said the dogs were at a so-called dog hotel.”

The SPCA ordered the owner to reveal the animals’ location; they went there and came back with 12 dogs.  They also confiscated one dog at the owner’s house, leaving her with only two.

“The owner claimed she had given away one other dog to a certain lady. We are still looking into that,” Pienaar said.

“We were also concerned about the people living there, especially the elderly lady. We contacted the health department as well as the social workers at the CMR to assist us with the case. She voluntarily agreed to move to an old-age home. We also noticed another house on the property where we discovered exotic birds in dirty cages. The water was dirty and no food was provided. There were also three dirty fish tanks, only one being provided oxygen. We removed all the fish and five exotic birds. A warning was issued to clean the living environment of the remaining birds and a dog.”

She acknowledged that hoarding is not a problem that can be fixed in one day.

“This is why we contacted the social workers, so that we approach the situation in a multifunctional way,” Pienaar concluded.

*Lowvelder previously reported that the organisation had issued a warning to the owner to reduce the number of dogs they own.
The paper has since learnt that is was the by-law officers who had issued this warning, on January 14. The SPCA instead issued a warning for the living conditions of the remaining animals to be cleaned up. Lowvelder apologises for any confusion this may have caused.