Dogs poisoned to get to motorbikes
Surviving a similar attack months ago seemed futile when looking at Xena’s awkwardly laying carcass in the garden, half on the lawn with her head in a flowerbed, surrounded by bright pink vomit.
Her face frozen in a distorted way. It was not rocket science to realise that she endured a lot of pain before mercifully blowing out her last breath.
Xena is one of two dogs who lost their lives during a poison attack by thieves in Springbok Avenue in Kanonkop, Middelburg. Collateral damage who stood in the way of criminals and their loot.
“She survived a previous attack because we could get her to the vet in time,” her owner Charmaine Ackerman tells www.mobserver.co.za whilst standing next to her lifeless pet.
After the dogs were killed with what is suspected to be ‘Two-Step’ (Aldicarb), thieves broke and bent a part of a palisade fence to get to the garage where they stole two motorbikes, both off-road models, leaving behind three other bikes.
“They came for specific bikes. One of the bikes they stole did not even have a back wheel because I removed it to fix a puncture,” owner of the stolen motorbikes Marius le Roux said. Thieves also took four helmets with them.
Their tracks could be followed to the R555 (Stoffberg Road) adjacent to Springbok Avenue, where it is suspected that they were picked up by a vehicle.
Killing dogs with poison have become common practise in Middelburg, where more than a 120 dogs have been killed in a similar way over the last year. The ever growing problem has no end in sight.
Community safety groups have managed to catch several suspects with poison and meat in their possession. The cases are almost always thrown out of court because no law exists that prohibits someone to carry poison on them.
In a previous investigation, and undercover source managed to buy poison from a local taxi rank for a couple of rand in less than 10 minutes.
Dog owners are advised to keep their pets indoors or in a back yard at night.
