‘I poison your pets’

POLOKWANE – Killing dogs with poison is most house burglars’ modus operandi when they rob homes or businesses.

This was confirmed by a self-confessed burglar to Review.

There have been reports of dogs and cats being poisoned with meat, which was thrown into their owner’s yards by the criminals as they wanted them out of the way.

“A dog barking at the wrong moment, or even attacking me when I break in, is a hassle I can do without,” the burglar told Review.

He added that the poison he used was a mixture of rat and insect poison, which was freely available from hawkers in the city at minimal cost.

Polokwane police spokesperson, WO Lesiba Ramoshaba, said the police were unaware of the type of poison that was used on pets during burglaries.

“This is because the people whose pets are poisoned usually just bury them without any tests being done to establish what kind of poison was used,” Ramoshaba explained.

Review has learned that the poison in question was sold by hawkers in the central business district and could be procured without any questions being asked.

It costs a total of some R30 for one packet of Rodenticide and another of Cockroach Killing Bait.

According to the burglar, mixing the two poisons worked instantaneously with maximum effect.

According Mike Ledwaba from a local pest control business in the city, the poisons sold on the street are illegal as the ingredients are not indicated on the packaging.

On the Cockroach Killing Bait packet, it is stated: “active ingredient – fipronil”.

Ledwaba said he was not familiar with this ingredient.

According to information available on several sites on the internet, there is an ongoing battle in various countries to ban this substance. Fipronil is a broad spectrum poison that acts on an insect’s central nervous system, according to Wikipedia.

Fipronil is also used in small doses in tick and flea poison commonly used for cats and dogs.

Dr Sandra Mulder, a vet in the city said in addition to specific metabolic disruption in massive toxic doses, the two poisons can also cause damage to tiny blood vessels and cause massive internal bleeding.

“This effect can be sped up if the dosage is high enough,” she said.