THE Pinetown Magistrates Court will allocate a prosecutor who will only deal with matters pertaining to the Animal Protections Act, helping to speed up cases brought forward by the Kloof and Highway SPCA.
Lisa Mörck, the PR and outreach officer, said the non-profit organisation’s inspectors and field officers work tirelessly to respond swiftly and professionally to assist animals in need. “As part of our training, we respectfully educate people as far as possible when it comes to the prevention of cruelty to animals. However, there are certain horrific circumstances of animal abuse and cruelty in which inspectors will lay charges against perpetrators in terms of the Animals Protection Act (71 of 1962),” said Mörck.
The SPCA then hands the relevant documentation to the authorities and a case number is assigned. Along with the general public, the SPCA staff await feedback from the public prosecutor with regards to the prosecution.
“We have recently been inundated with correspondence from our community wanting to know the outcome of our cases. Some of these cases date back as far as 2014. We wish to inform our donors and supporters that our inspectors have worked tirelessly to ensure that the dockets are as complete as possible and we have also been frustrated with the lack of answers,” said Mörck.
The Kloof and Highway SPCA’s management recently met with key representatives of the Pinetown Magistrates’ Court and a decision was made to allocate one prosecutor to deal with all cases concerning the Animals Protection Act. “The channel of communication between the court and the SPCA will be improved with inspectors assisting wherever possible with prosecutor-guided investigations.
“We look forward to working together for the justice of those animals who suffer at the hands of man and thank our community for the invaluable support provided to our inspectorate team,” said Mörck.
