VIDEO: Durban dog poisonings leave 2 families devastated

A QUEENSBURGH family is distraught after discovering their beloved pitbull died after being poisoned.

Danita Pillay said they made the gruesome discovery at around 6am on Tuesday, 14 July.

Pillay said the following day, at 2am they heard noises outside in the yard.

“We then looked through the window and saw three men in the process of stealing our VW Polo Vivo. We pressed our home panic alarms and immediately called the police. It took them about 10 minutes to get the car out of the driveway as we have a difficult driveway to drive up,” explained Pillay.

She said during the 10 minutes, they watched in fear as their car was being stolen and there was nothing they could do to stop them and protect their lives.

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Pillay pleaded with people to be extra cautious, “We are scared and angry at the same time. Dre was part of our family for six years, we are absolutely shattered. Dog owners should also be on the lookout if their pet is frothing at the mouth and passes away suddenly, as they could be the next target,” said Pillay.

In a separate incident today, Blue Security also reported a similar case in Pinetown, where a family’s 14-year-old pet was also poisoned during a home invasion.

Blue Security also warned Durban pet owners to be extra vigilant of their dogs’ whereabouts at all times due to cases where poison is being used when intruders enter a property.

Blue Security community and media liaison officer, Andreas Mathios said a family pet tragically died of poisoning in the early hours of Friday morning during a string of housebreaking incidents in Moseley, Pinetown.

“The crime spree began at a house where the suspects broke in and removed a TV. The owner was completely unaware that intruders had even been in the house and stole the appliance,” said Mathios.

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According to Mathios, the TV was then hidden nearby before the suspects moved on to a house two doors away.

“It was here where the resident woke up to banging on the window outside and heard the suspects trying to remove the beading from the window. The owner then activated the alarm, sending a panic activation to the Blue Security control centre,” explained Mathios

“The suspects fled the property and an alert was put out that housebreaking suspects were active in the area,” he said.

The neighbourhood watch searched the area and also viewed CCTV footage which confirmed the suspects’ movement in the area showing them exiting a nearby property and moving on to another house.

Mathios said the CCTV footage revealed that the family’s 14-year old pet had been poisoned, wrapped in a blanket and placed in the car which was stolen.

After the search for the criminals and a car chase, the suspects abandoned the car and fled on foot.

The reaction officers made the tragic discovery of a deceased dog wrapped in a blanket inside the car.

“It was later confirmed that the dog was the family’s 14-year-old pet. It is still unclear as to why the pet had been wrapped in a blanket and placed on the back seat of the stolen car,” he said.

“Other officers searching the area, near to the homes which had been broken into, also found a lunchbox containing the lethal “2-Step” poison, which is frequently used to poison dogs, causing an agonizing death,” said Mathios.