Bogus SPCA inspectors steal five huskies
Five huskies were recently removed from a property in Waverley by two women claiming they worked for the Tshwane SPCA.
A Waverley man is desperately searching for his five dogs removed from his property by two women pretending to be from Tshwane SPCA.
Dick Coetzer offered a R5 000 reward for anyone with information on the whereabouts of his five huskies.
Dressed in white shirts with false SPCA identification cards, two women arrived at his house in Walter Avenue around noon on Wednesday. The one was a blonde woman and the other a brunette.
They asked to have a look at Coetzer’s five huskies and to inspect their living conditions, saying they were from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Coetzer agreed and accompanied the women to his backyard.
“They started asking questions such as where the dogs slept at night and why their ears were bitten by flies,” Coetzer said. “They also asked me why one dog’s eyes were teary.”
Coetzer said he explained to the woman their beds were kept under the carport and that he had already arranged for an appointment at the local veterinary clinic to take care of the dogs’ ears and eyes.
“I was offended when they asked me if I was not looking for good homes for the dogs,” Coetzer said. “These dogs are my pride and joy — they are like children to me.”
The women told Coetzer they would leave and come back in a week’s time to see if the dog’s eye had been treated. “But an hour later they came back and claimed they spoke to the SPCA head office and were told to take my dogs and treat their ears and eyes free of charge,” he said.
“I told them I would pay for this, but they insisted on taking the dogs with them for free treatment. They also said they would take them for a bath at a discounted price.”
Coetzer said he helped the dogs into the light green Range Rover. The women said they would return them before 17:00 unless the one had to undergo surgery to remove the ingrown hair under his eye in which case they would have returned the dogs on Thursday.
By late afternoon, the dogs had still not returned home and Coetzer became worried. He phoned the number they had given, but there was no reply.
Coetzer said he suspected the women had been watching his dogs for a while. On Monday, he noticed a blonde woman leaning over the wall in his backyard while taking a photo of the huskies with her cellphone. He did not confront her as he did not suspect anything.
On Tuesday, his domestic worker said two women driving a dark blue BMW asked her if they could have a look at the house as they wanted to buy the property. She refused to let them in.
Coetzer has since laid charges at Villeria police station. The Tshwane SPCA had no knowledge of the two women.
Tshwane SPCA spokesperson Korkie Levanon said she heard of a similar case the past week.
“After a posting about the theft of the huskies on our Facebook page, another man commented that he recently had a visit from two women who claimed they were from the SPCA and that they were investigating complaints from neighbours about their dogs,” Levanon said.
“Tshwane SPCA urges the public to be on the alert for people posing as SPCA inspectors. Actual inspectors have SPCA branded vehicles, wear white shirts with SPCA epaulets and carry identification cards. Always ask the inspector for a signed letter of authorisation, which should have matching information with their identification card.”
The Tshwane SPCA could be reached at 012-803-5219 or admin@spcapta.org.za.
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