The Sandton SPCA waded into the recent conviction and sentencing of an Alex man for bestiality by the Alex Magistrates’ Court.
The story, Why are Some Men so Beastly, featured in the Alex News (week ending 27 October).
In a joint statement welcoming the judgement against a father of six who admitted to raping a dog, the SPCA and a non-profit organisation, Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) expressed concern about the five-year sentence, which was suspended for a further five years. He was caught in the act and charged with bestiality in terms of the Criminal Law (sexual offences and related matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007.
The SPCA took the eight-month-old cross-breed female dog named Blackie, to an independent veterinarian for examination and is now in their (the SPCA’s) safe care.
Magistrate Syta Prinsloo was scathing in her judgement, calling the man’s act serious, unnatural and barbaric from a married man and role model to his six children, and upsetting, as he would be expecting to engage sexually with his wife. She described his actions and those of others like him with an uncontrollable desire for sex on the sight of any female, child or dog, a shameful sign of low-life, which ought to be stopped.
The SPCA and WMACA, which provided trauma counselling to the dog’s 10-year-old owner and his family, said Mochachi and his ilk shouldn’t be left to roam the streets unchecked. They prefer harsher sentences for the sexual violation of animals and children who are helpless against such violent attacks.
“Sexual predators, regardless of the type of crime, should be monitored. It’s a fact that bestiality is a stepping stone to sex crimes on vulnerable human beings like children or young women,” WMACA’s Miranda Jordan said in the statement.
The dog owner’s family wish to apply for a protection order to prevent the offender from returning to the property where the incident took place, as he posed a risk to young children and other animals at the same premises.
The statement, supported by facts from a study by an established tertiary institute, read:
- The majority of sexual homicide offenders had a history of cruelty towards animals
- Seventy per cent of all animal abusers have committed at least one other crime
- About 40 per cent of animal abusers have committed violent crimes against people
- About 40 per cent of sex offenders who victimised children have admitted to engaging in sex with animals
- Approximately 80 to 90 per cent of domestic violence victims said that their abusers started by abusing pets, before turning on them.
The SPCA is also seeking a good, safe home for the dog.
Details: Sandton SPCA 011 907 3590; WMACA 011 789 8815.
Book: Animal Cruelty; Common in Many Killers, Sunbury/Macedon Ranges Leader, 26 Apr 2005.
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