Cape Town - The Cape of Good Hope SPCA says it is pursuing criminal charges of animal cruelty against a Mitchell’s Plain man, after two dogs were found dead and one seriously injured at his property.
This, after the owner ignored several warnings issued by the SPCA, following the discovery of eight animals – including four adult dogs, two cats, and three puppies – on his property living under inhumane conditions.
One of the four adult dogs was found with a broken leg, which was left untreated after it was allegedly involved in a motor vehicle accident.
Inspector Rudolph Philander, who approached Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court for an order to confiscate the surviving animals, said the owner deliberately denied the injured dog medical treatment and that there was no alternative but to confiscate the dogs due to non-compliance.
“The dogs do not have access to adequate shelter to protect them against all the weather elements. The dogs are deprived of freedom and are in constant discomfort. It is cruel and inhumane to not provide any animal with access to adequate shelter or protection against the weather elements,” he said.
Philander said this was an offence, in terms of the Animals Protection Act No. 71 of 1962.
Chief Inspector Jaco Pieterse said that SPCA believed in education before prosecution, however, attempts to educate and assist did not work. Pieterse said if the owner was unable to afford veterinary services, he could have asked the Inspector for assistance but, instead, chose to leave the animals to suffer.
Beauty Without Cruelty chairperson Toni Brockhoven said anyone who deliberately and knowingly refused to provide shelter, care, food, and veterinary treatment to animals should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“I do not for a minute believe that any adult can seriously deny that anyone who bleeds does not feel pain and anguish. Young children in townships carry, or put an injured animal in a basket or wheelbarrow, and walk kilometres to the mobile clinics – even when it’s not their animal, because they know better,” she said.
Brockhoven said there was always room for education, which is something regularly done by organisations.
Clarina Hanekom, from Tin Can Town, said there were no adequate laws protecting animals and education about animal treatment.
“Animal care should be one of the subjects that they have in school, from the earliest age possible,” she said.