Durban - The stench of death permeating the air was the first warning of the horrors to come.
This as the IOS arrived at a farm in Cato Ridge this week after a tip-off that police and SPCA officials would rescue animals from a dog rescue shelter.
RSL Dog Shelter is on a large property, with a long driveway down to the house.
A convoy of police and Kloof and Highway SPCA inspectors, vet and other team members arrived at the property soon after lunchtime.
They had been alerted by a number of anonymous complaints of incessant barking coming from the property, as well as concerns that the animals may not have been tended to in more than a week.
Dead puppies lying in the long grass outside the main gate made a pathetic introduction to the horrors the rescuers would find within.
About a week old, it was not clear how the pups got there.
In the bushes behind the fenced property, two cowering dogs were spotted, while the barking of well over 100 animals could be heard from down the long drive, with banging noises echoing through the stillness.
A group of dogs arrived at the gate, some squeezing themselves through gaps, where they were given food and fresh water by the SPCA team.Clutz Cloete, a co-founder of RSL Dog Shelter, arrived and was shown the warrant for a search of the property by police officers.
The convoy of police and animal inspectors moved slowly down the long drive and the barking grew louder. Stopping outside the main property, the on-going banging was found to be dogs throwing themselves against the corrugated sheeting which served as fencing around and between pens.
In one pen, a dead dog lay to one side as the others ran excitedly past it. The water bowls were dark green with slime and sludge. One bowl was the final resting place of a dead rat.
The smell of rotting meat and death was overwhelming. The dogs leaped through rusted and broken corrugated sheeting to get from pen to pen, with underbellies being torn and scratched. Many were limping or struggling to walk. A Great Dane lay in one pen, watching with listless eyes.
The grim-faced officials jumped into action, with SPCA inspectors carrying suffering dogs to the waiting vans.
One of the police officers remarked: “I have been to many scenes, but never one like this.“
Lying almost motionless in a van after being rescued, a small dog looked around bewildered as maggots crawled from black, deadened skin on his stomach.
The vet explained that ticks carry a toxin in their saliva which causes the skin to die and blacken while attracting flies, which in turn lay their eggs to become maggots.
Another dog covered in blood on his torso was brought out and placed gently next to the van. He was no longer breathing.
Other dogs displayed clusters of ticks, from around the face to those burrowed deep into fur.
RSL co-founder Cloete escorted police and SPCA officials around the property.
Yesterday Cloete said he did not want to comment on the confiscation of the animals by police and SPCA officials until next week.
“It’s difficult at this stage as the matter is under investigation. Animals are my life, whether it’s a dog, cat, goat or any other animal. I was born and bred on a farm, I grew up with them,” said Cloete. He said RSL Dog Shelter was registered as a non-profit organisation (NPO) in 2019.
On the current RSLDogshelter Facebook page, which has more than 2 500 followers, the organisation says it is a “voice for the voiceless” with the logo “Real Humans Are Kind To Animals”.
An older Facebook page stated that the organisation is a “Rescue, Save and love furever animal sanctuary” which “helps the voiceless”.
In a local media article displayed on that same Facebook page, his partner Sue Campbell was reported to have said they started the shelter “after noticing that there is and always will be a demand to help and save the voiceless” and saying, “we rescue our fur babies from bizarre situations and environments”.
On their social media pages and in media reports, RSL Dog Shelter appeals for donations of cash and materials.
SPCA manager Barbara Patrick confirmed that the SPCA had obtained a warrant to enter the property, that investigations were continuing and she could not comment further.
The Independent on Saturday