UPDATE: Eyewitness describes stinking, rotten abuse
“I will go out of my way to find this person now. It is not right.”
“It’s not right – it is a beautiful puppy.”
When Johan Potgieter left home for work on Thursday morning (July 2), he had no idea the terrible turn his day would take.
A warehouse owner, he often travels past Amcor Dam in the mornings.
Just before the railway tracks connecting Umfolozi and Marconi Drives, Mr Potgieter noticed an Opel station wagon parked at an angle from the roadway.
Next to the vehicle, partly obscured from view was a man.
“At first, I thought he was urinating and drove past. He had the boot open.”
George Mlambo, an employee who was travelling with Mr Potgieter at the time, noticed a shape in the grass as the Opel accelerated away.
“We were stopped at the level crossing when the guy rode away. We saw the puppy trying to walk but it was too weak.”
Mr Potgieter executed a U-turn in order to confirm his suspicions, while the Opel driver seemed to second-guess his actions and began reversing closer.
As Mr Mlambo exited the bakkie, the Opel driver sped off.
“I was unsure if we should help the puppy or chase the guy down. By the time we got to the puppy, the guy had gone.”
Describing the state of the abandoned puppy as ‘stinking and rotten’, Mr Potgieter added the animal was terrified and hobbled further into the veld.
Mr Mlambo eventually managed to load the scared animal into the bakkie’s load bin.
Intervention from a number of parties saw the puppy transported to a local veterinarian for urgent treatment, but sadly it had to be euthanised due to the severity of the injuries.
Mr Potgieter said the incident had left him on constant lookout for the Opel.
“I will go out of my way to find this person now. It is not right.”
