Exploring Dora saved from deadly snare

DORA, a three-year-old Africanis dog, was recently rescued from a slow and cruel demise. The adventurous hound wandered out of her owner’s property on Sunday, 24 August, and into the Wyebank bushes, where she got caught in a hunting snare.

Her concerned owner, Lucy Pillay, called the Kloof and Highway SPCA the next morning, after she spent hours searching for her beloved pet.

“I knew that something was wrong when we noticed that she was missing. She doesn’t wander off. We called for hours, but she never responded,” said Pillay.

As fate would have it, the SPCA soon received a call from an anonymous individual. They reported that they heard a dog crying and suspected that it was stuck in the bushes close to their home.

Inspector Petros Simamane and Janice Mathlay as well as volunteer, Brenda Mamela, were sent to search the bushes for the helpless creature.

After scouring the bushes they eventually found the small canine trapped in a wire snare that was tightly squeezing her around the neck.

After freeing Dora from the dangerous contraption they dismantled two additional snares that were found nearby.

Dora was later happily and safely reunited with her owner. “She is a little quiet and reserved since we brought her home, but she is happy, healthy and eating properly,” said an elated Pillay.

According to Lisa Gadd, the PR and outreach officer at the Kloof and Highway SPCA, snares are anchored cables or wire nooses set to catch small animals, such as duikers and rabbits.

“Snares are one of the simplest traps to make, cheap to produce and easy to set in large numbers and they are a huge problem in many areas because of this.

“It causes an extremely cruel, slow and painful death, as the wires tangle around the animal’s neck and gradually tightens as the animal struggles to get free,” said Gadd.

The SPCA urges residents to immediately report any traps that they come across.