KINROSS – A dog died being tied with cable ties and rope to a fallen tree branch in a remote area behind the Kinross municipal golf course.
Ms Charnae Elliot and Mr Thabiso Mkhize, volunteers at the Highveld Ridge SPCA, believe the animal must have been tied up in this position for at least a week.
“I believe the dog was still alive when he was tied up in such a way that he would have been incapacitated. The rope had shaved into his skin,” explained Ms Elliott.
The animal’s carcass was discovered by an angler who often fishes in the dams around the dilapidated municipal golf course.
He took photos and sent it to a friend, Mr Willie Cloete, a birdlife enthusiast from Kinross.
“I was so appaulled by this and felt that this crime should be exposed,” Mr Cloete said. He inspected the secluded area that was pointed out by his friend and found the dead dog on Monday.
Mr Cloete shared the information with Ms Nicolette van Zyl of Feral Watch who contacted the newspaper who in turn alerted the Highveld Ridge SPCA.
Night had already set in when the SPCA volunteers and newspaper drove out to search for the animal, but the spot where the dog was tied up, was too obscure to be seen from the dirt trail.
The group collected Mr Cloete from his home in Kinross and he directed them to the shrubs next to a small dam where a tree had fallen.
The brown dog, possibly a Sharpei cross breed about the size of a staffie or pit bull, was lying on its stomach with its face in the grass. Rigor mortis had already set in.
The two volunteers aided by Mr Cloete managed to loosen the knot around the branch and lifted the maggot-infested carcass into a black bag to take back to the SPCA for inspection and to gather evidence.
The SPCA will also cross-reference their files on lost pets to see if they can trace the owner of the dog.
“This is an act of extreme cruelty. This dog was tied there intentionally and left to die,” said Ms Elliott.
People who information are asked to phone the SPCA office at 017 632 2654 or to send an email to spcahvdr@vodamail.co.za.
Also read:
https://www.citizen.co.za/ridge-times/121831/spca-kennels-already-filling-up-again/
