Five cats found beaten to death in Pretoria Moot
Three of the cats were found with their heads crushed, but none of the incidents were reported to the Tshwane SPCA.
Image: iStock
A number of cats were found dead this past weekend in the Pretoria Moot.
The first three cats were found on Friday afternoon, and a fourth one was found in the evening, said CPF chairperson Elsabe van Staden.
She said the first cat, which was found in the stream area in Rietfontein, was found lying in front of a mirror with a torch shining on the mirror, reports Pretoria Moot Rekord.
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Van Staden said three other cats were found together.
“They were found with their heads crushed,” she said.
The Tshwane SPCA, however, said no such cases were reported to them.
Spokesperson Elsa Daniels said that as soon as they received more information, the issue would be investigated.
Van Staden said it was difficult to safeguard a cat as it was not really a housebound animal.
“Except if it is a house cat and has been taught to live in the house from a very young age,” she said.
“We also have a lot of roaming cats in our area and we regularly receive complaints from residents.”
She urged residents to have their cats sterilised or neutered, preventing them from causing trouble on the streets.
Pretoria animal activist Herman le Roux said there was an issue with feral cats in Pretoria.
“These cats are often seen tortured by people,” he said.
“They are shot with different kinds of weapons and because cats mostly roam, we see this happen to [pet cats] as well.”
He said problems started when a cat owner failed to sterilise or neuter their own cats.
“The cats then go out, mate and the cycle just repeats itself,” he said.
“These cats often become feral and end up being the target of cruel people.”
He said a second problem was that some people did not regard cats as important as dogs.
“It really becomes a major problem and the penalty for animal abuse is simply not severe enough,” he said.
“We have a programme at our organisation, The H Project, where we sterilise or neuter feral cats for R220,” he said.
“We could assist the public and teach them how to trap a feral cat in order to have it sterilised or neutered.
“For instance, if someone has feral cats at their workplace, they could contact us and we could try to make a plan to trap them and have them sterilised or neutered – this will also help lessen the strain on the cat community.”
He said The H Project also ran a feral cat partner programme.
“Whether you are an organisation or just assist with the feral community cats, you are more than welcome to contact us to become a feral cat partner,” he said.
“This way we can work together and see where we can assist each other.”
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