Child’s pet beaten to death and set alight

A dog accused of eating chickens in Marikana in Promosa on Easter Friday was allegedly tied down, beaten to death with iron rods, doused in paraffin and set alight. Thereafter, she was dumped in the open veld nearby.

According to the teary and very emotional Mrs Maki Patricia Mogorosi, the dog named Suzzy belonged to her 12-year-old son, Tshidiso who, together with the dog, were apprehended by men at one of the shacks nearby.

“My son says the owner of the place accused his dog of eating his chickens and pigeons. Luckily, he ran away to his friend’s place and later came to tell me the story, ” she said.

“When I went to the man’s place I found about eight men smoking dagga, drinking alcohol and playing the game of Morabaraba.

I told the man that I had heard that he had detained my dog and claims to have seen my dog eat his chickens. I asked him how many chickens and pigeons he had lost so I could compensate him to release my dog.”

“Sadly, the rowdy group refused.

 They did not want my money and told me to voetsek  because they were going to burn my dog. There was an exchange of swear words and I left unhappy because they also disrespected me as a woman and told me to go recruit more powerful men to come face them.

I thought I would be able to talk sense into adults as a parent, but I was disappointed and went home empty-handed without Suzzy.”

“The following morning, on my way from the veld with my neighbours, I saw my dog with all its insides hanging out, covered with plastic and badly burnt. I was shaking and could not believe what I saw. How can a human being be so cruel to an animal? I called Paws (Potchefstroom Animal Welfare Society) and they were at the scene within 30 minutes and advised me to open a case at the police station.”

One of the witnesses, Cosmos Mosala, who was fixing a fence at the chicken owner’s house at the time and saw the altercation between the men and the woman, says the dog did eat one of the chickens.

“The woman begged to pay for the damages. I advised the group of men to burn the dog because there was nothing to be done. Hypocritically, Mosala who owns two dogs, himself, says he would not want his own dogs to be harmed because he loves them.

Ikageng SAPS spokesperson, Const. Kelebogile Trom says a case of cruelty to animals has been opened at the Ikageng police station. She urged the community to take responsibility for their pets and keep them in the yard. Chickens should be fenced in and not left to wander around in the streets.

“It is sad to see such acts being committed to a dog. The community must report any animal cruelty to Potchefstroom Paws,” she advised.

Andries Venter of Potchefstroom Paws says they are investigating the case of animal cruelty and have submitted their evidence to the SAPS.

“We are horrified by the event and will ensure a prosecution is followed through,” he said.

Attempts to contact those responsible for the incident were unsuccessful.