On Monday morning, she was found seriously injured in her kennel at the Saps veterinary facility at Rondeplaat after trying to escape it.
Picture used for illustrative purposes. Image: iStock
Warning: This article contains descriptive accounts that some readers may find distressing.
Sky, the beloved Saps K9 who captured national sympathy after being catastrophically injured at the Roodeplaat veterinary and training facility, has been euthanised.
Her condition deteriorated severely overnight, with vets warning that surgery and anaesthesia were now too dangerous.
On Monday morning, she was found seriously injured in her kennel at the Saps veterinary facility at Rondeplaat after trying to escape it.
“I have been informed that the open fracture to her left front leg had caused tissue in the limb to begin dying. She also had a fracture to her right front leg, where the skin had started dying,” Portfolio Committee on Police chairperson Ian Cameron confirmed on Wednesday.
Her injuries
“The muscles of the dog had suffered extensive damage and were beginning to break down, causing her urine to turn red.
“This indicated that her body could no longer cope with the trauma, and there was a strong suspicion that her organs were beginning to fail.”
After consultation with her treating doctors, the decision was taken to end her suffering.
Onderstepoort will conduct a clinician-led post-mortem and compile a formal report that must form part of every investigation into Sky’s death.
Death foreseeable
Cameron says Saps’s own veterinary certificate, signed on 28 August 2026, shows the danger was known in advance.
“SAPS’s own veterinary certificate, signed on 28 August 2026, records that Sky was admitted to Roodeplaat in March with injuries linked to her kennel stress and previous escape attempts.
“These included wounds to her face and legs and damage to her teeth, with some teeth having been torn from her jaw before her admission to Roodeplaat,” he said.
The certificate notes her escape attempts were “persistent and compulsive”, that she continued trying to escape when left unattended, and that she had been diagnosed with separation anxiety and severe kennel stress.
It adds that her prognosis in the Saps environment was poor and that she could not remain there without compromising her welfare – a written warning just 10 days before the incident that led to her death.
Criminal case
Cameron alleges that, during August, Saps members asked Colonel Corbett to approach Brigadier Kekana for permission to move Sky temporarily to a suitable home while the formal donation process was finalised, but that request was never escalated.
“I have opened a criminal case and referred the matter to the NSPCA’s Special Projects Unit and the South African Veterinary Council. An internal Saps inquiry cannot be the only process investigating Saps’s own conduct.
“Sky served the police and depended entirely on Saps for her protection. She could not speak for herself or escape the decisions made about her life. Her death cannot be reduced to an unfortunate accident or administrative delay.”
Those who knew about the danger, had the authority to act and failed to protect her must be independently investigated and, where supported by the evidence, prosecuted.”
