SPCA tackles severe case of animal hoarding — 43 dogs confiscated
The Germiston SPCA has confiscated 43 Maltese terriers found inside a house in Sunnyridge.
In one of the most severe cases of animal hoarding ever encountered by the Germiston SPCA, 43 Maltese terriers were confiscated from a house in Sunnyridge, on June 7.
Trainee inspector Thabang Mabaso received a complaint of overcrowding and dogs not being cared for adequately at a home in Sunnyridge.
He managed to make contact with the owner and arranged to get access to the house on June 6.
Upon his arrival, Mabaso was shocked to find a large number of Maltese terriers living inside the house.
The floors of the home were covered in dog waste, in some cases centimetres deep and
Mabaso immediately issued a 24-hour warning to the owner to clean up the house.
“It would have been a Herculean task to adequately clean the home in this timeframe, given its state, but Mabaso felt that it was also unfair for the dogs to continue living in that environment,” said Burt Coetzee, manager and senior inspector at the Germiston SPCA.
The next day Mabaso, with assistance from Coetzee, returned to the property.
While the owner had made some attempt to clean the house, it was still in an unacceptable state.
“After discussion with the woman, she agreed to sign over ownership of the dogs to the SPCA.
“In total, 43 dogs, including three pregnant females, were surrendered,” said Coetzee.
“The smell was overwhelming entering the house due to the amount of faeces and urine everywhere.
“The ammonia build up from the animal waste was so strong that it was hard to breathe and it caused one’s eyes to burn.
“All of the dogs, Maltese terriers and Maltese terrier-crosses mostly, were covered in faeces and forced to sleep and eat in-between or on top of their own waste.
“Most of the dogs were found to have part of their footpads burned severely from walking in the waste and their eyes were also clearly affected and pink from the constant burn and watering.
“General lack of care could be seen as the owner never realised this, and also never clipped the dogs’ toenails, causing some dogs to have toenails that had curled around and grown back into the footpads.”
A local dog parlour, Loets Pets in a Tub, groomed the dogs free of charge and on short notice.
The society is extremely thankful for the help received in grooming such a large number of dogs.
The animals are currently at the Germiston SPCA’s kennels in Driehoek and are available for adoption.
“In this case the hoarder most likely had good intentions in providing a home for these animals.
“Unfortunately, with so many unsterilised dogs living so closely together, uncontrolled breeding can quickly cause a population explosion,” said Coetzee.
The Germiston SPCA urges all pet owners to sterilise their animals.
“Hundreds of stray and unwanted pets are received by the Germiston SPCA every month and large scale sterilisation by responsible pet owners is the only sustainable solution to the problem,” said Coetzee.
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