The cat seemed to be in a good condition but was confiscated despite its owner’s pleas.
During a joint operation that saw the Middelburg police and Steve Tshwete Municipality joining hands, health inspectors visited several businesses in the CBD, Middelburg Observer reports.
A cat was discovered tied up by inspectors visiting shops in the walkway between Walter Sisulu Street and Iraq Taxi Rank.
The shop owner, however, vehemently denied accusations of animal cruelty. She pleaded with inspectors to let her keep her cat, saying she had no other choice but to tie up her pet during the day, for its own safety.
“The nyaopes, they come and they take it,” she tried to explain.
She further stated that drug addicts had stolen previous cats of hers. She claims they sell the animals for money or exchange it for cigarettes at other stores, and said they had left her with no other choice but to keep the cat tied up during the day while she is working.
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She said she could not leave the cat at home because the same fate awaited the animal there.
In a last attempt to prove that her cat is well cared for, she slipped the cord off its neck, picked it up and invited one of them to pet it, saying that it would not ‘scratchy-scratch’.
It was explained to her that animals could be kept in the same place where food was sold.
Prudence Magutle, municipal spokesperson, said: “After the operation, the cat had been confiscated and handed over to the SPCA.”
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– Caxton News Service
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