Sisters seek answers from NSCPA after pups were euthanised
Pet owners Zamajali and Wandile Mtsweni from Nigel are seeking answers from the NSPCA, after their two Labrador puppies had been euthanised recently.
The pups suffered from slight diarrhoea and were collected from the sister’s house by James from Nigel SPCA on October 23, with the assurance that they will be seen by a veterinarian that day.
The sisters were asked to sign a form, which they were told by James was to grant him permission to remove the pups from their house and transport them to Nigel SPCA. He also told them to check the next day by phoning him, but when they did phone him around 10:00, he said the puppies have not yet been examined by the veterinarian yet and suggested they phoned back in the afternoon.
“We did as we were told and when we phoned again after 15:00, James said the puppies were too sick and that they will not survive. As a result, he said they will have to be euthanised, but we pleaded with him not to put them out as we will collect them and take them to a veterinarian,” an upset Wandile explained.
What exactly happened next, remains a mystery as James reportedly refused that the sisters collect their puppies and the next day they were told the puppies were euthanised.
When they consulted local veterinarian Dr Cindy van der Westhuizen to find out more, Zamajali and Wandile learned that although the mortality rate is high, the virus is in fact treatable in the early stages.
Angered and frustrated, the sisters asked Dr Van der Westhuizen to perform an autopsy on the puppies to determine their exact illnesses, but on October 26 they were informed that the corpses have not yet been released by Brakpan SPCA.
“We also learned that it was the NSPCA who refused to release the corpses for the autopsy, so now we are determined to find answers as to what happened to our puppies,” Wandile said.
After visiting Brakpan SPCA on October 29, the siblings were still not closer to finding any answers, except that they were shown documentation submitted by James, which states that one puppy was diagnosed with biliary (or also known as tick bite fever) and the other with parvovirus and that they had to be euthanised by Brakpan SPCA. The other document was a ‘surrender form’, duly signed by the Mtsweni’s, which they were initially told was an authorization form for James to remove the puppies.
HERAUT presented the NSPCA with the Mtsweni’s allegations via email, but still await a response.
