SPCA opens case of stock theft after puppy is stolen
When staff at the SPCA realised the puppy was missing, they immediately took to Facebook, asking residents to help find the puppy.
Five women stole a Pitbull puppy from the Edenvale SPCA, which was fortunately recovered later the same day by two alert men.
The group of women visited the SPCA on October 27. The women were particularly interested in one of the Pitbull puppies, nine-week-old Cinnamon.
According to the manager of the Edenvale SPCA, Ms Marita Acar, the puppy was taken at about 2pm.
When staff at the SPCA realised the puppy was missing, they immediately took to Facebook, asking residents to help find the puppy.
Later that day, two men happened to come across girls at a Dunvegan Park. The men saw the girls playing with the puppy and went to have a closer look, as both of them are particularly fond of Pitbulls.
“We saw the Pitbull puppy and decided to take a closer look as *Damian and I both like Pitbulls,” said Paul*.
They became suspicious when they were told the puppy had been acquired earlier that day.
One of the men, Damian*, had received a photo of the puppy from his mother, earlier in the day.
They then confronted the girls who said “that don’t know anything because they got the dog from their mom”.
The girls said they were too shy to return the dog to the SPCA.
The two men returned the puppy to the SPCA.
According to Ms Maureen Robinson, the receptionist at the Edenvale SPCA, workers became suspicious of the women due to the amount of interest they showed in Cinnamon.”One of the women asked about adopting Cinnamon and enquired about the adoption process,” said Ms Robinson.
Ms Robinson told her she can apply to adopt Cinnamon but that she would be the fourth person to put in an application.
When the women were about to leave the SPCA, Ms Robinson said workers from the SPCA began asking where the puppy was.
The women said they had left Cinnamon at the back. They then entered their car and drove off.
“I believe they hid the dog in the bags they had with them,” said Ms Robinson.
According to Ms Robinson, when she reviewed the footage of the incident, the one woman’s bag looked bulkier than when she first arrived.
Ms Robinson said the SPCA team found it suspicious that Cinnamon could not be found after the women had left, or that she was not with her sister Honey.
“The two Pitbulls are usually always together, it was weird that they weren’t,” said Ms Robinson.
Ms Acar said the Edenvale SPCA has since opened a case of stock theft at the Sebenza SAPS.
“We will continue to investigate the matter,” said Ms Acar.
Sergeant Sharon Mahamba Tsotsotso, from theSebenza SAPS, confirmed that a case was opened with the police.
*Names changed at the request of the men.
