A young vervet monkey had to be euthanised on Thursday after rescuers discovered it had been shot five times.

Brendan Murray of the Owl Rescue Centre in Hartbeespoort was called out by residents to a scene near the primary school in Schoemansville after residents had seen a male attacking a young monkey.

“The monkey mother was holding her youngster that obviously had difficulty moving. We managed to catch the pair and had to remove the young one from her frantic mother. She had a bite on the hind leg and we thought she might have been bitten by a dog. We took her to our veterinarian who did an X-ray, only to discover that she had five pellet bullets lodged in her body,” says Murray.

One of the bullets was lodged in the spine. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the injuries, the monkey had to be euthanised.

The Hartbeespoort Animal Welfare Society (Haws) expressed its disgust at the incident. “It is absolutely appalling. Firstly, it is illegal to use a pellet gun in a suburban area, and secondly, people who shoot an animal with a pellet gun are in violation of the Animal Protection Act and can be prosecuted,” says Haws chairperson Linda Spencer-Coye.

“People live in Hartbeespoort for the beauty of the area and being close to nature, and shooting our wildlife is appalling. We ask residents to report people shooting animals for this to stop. And residents who report should not be reluctant to be named. Offenders can be prosecuted but if a whistleblower does not want to be named, it doesn’t help us in court,” she adds.

“People need to reevaluate their moral compasses to help us stop people who shoot animals.”