A Rynfield resident rescued a hadeda on Friday (May 25) which a trolley pusher had tied up in a plastic shopping bag on his cart in Dalyrymple Street, Northmead, after he accepted R60 for the bird.
Unfortunately, despite finding itself in a caring, protective environment later that day, the bird died during the night.
Learners from Benoni High School, who had arrived at the school to write an exam just before 10am, saw the trolley pusher going about his business but didn’t take much notice.
He apparently then crossed the street and when he returned to the cart he had the bird in his hands, stuffed it into the plastic bag and walked off down the road.
One of the learners told the City Times they were all shocked by the sight but didn’t know how to react.
Minutes later Sonett Britz drove down Dalrymple Street and saw the bird trying desperately to escape from the plastic bag.
“I immediately stopped,” she said.
“The trolley pusher didn’t understand a word of English but when I showed him the R60 he understood what I wanted and gave me the bird.”
Sonett placed the terrified bird in a big wooden toolbox in her car and contacted her ex-husband, Rob, who also lives in Rynfield, as he is a bird lover, and asked him to take care of the hadeda.
“When I dropped the bird off, Rob freed it from the plastic bag, which was tied tightly around its neck and wings.”
According to Rob, the hadeda was traumatised.
“It was a young bird and very skinny and weak.
“I’m puzzled by how the trolley pusher managed to capture the bird.
“There weren’t any visible injuries so perhaps it was caught in a trap and couldn’t escape.
“It’s not unrealistic that these guys set traps for birds, to catch and eat them.
“This hadeda was no doubt destined for the pot,” Rob said.
Sonett said she is was very upset the bird didn’t make it but is grateful that its last few hours were less traumatic.
“It had access to food and was comfortable, warm and loved,” she said.
* The rescue of the hadeda came to light after a message was posted on the Benoni Lost/Found Animals Whatsapp group on Friday night about the incident the Benoni High learners witnessed.
A member responded to say her aunt had bought a hadeda in a plastic bag from a trolley pusher in Dalrymple Street that morning.
Also read: Daveyton train track dog case: Peta offers R50 000 reward
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