Mass poisoning leaves 12 dogs dead at Fora
At least 25 dogs were poisoned at Fora, leaving 12 dead.
Friends of Rescued Animals (Fora) experienced a break-in on Wednesday night, June 12 where a suspected dog poaching group poisoned 25 dogs.
According to the shelter manager at Fora, Linda Scrace, 12 dogs died as a result while 13 survived.
She said at about 23:00, the dogs at the main shelter were very noisy, and two of the residents on the property went to check what was disturbing the dogs, as well as a local security patroller. She further explained that they did not find anything and decided to call it a night as the dogs settled down.
“Early this morning [June 13] our kennel hands, upon starting work, discovered the bodies of 12 dogs. On the outside of the five runs affected, an employee found a plastic packet with remnants of minced meat mixed with poison. The suspects had thrown balls of the poisoned mince into the runs. Eleven of our dogs are still under observation,” Scrace added.
Scrace stated that the act appeared to be purely malicious, with no fences cut and nothing stolen. She suspects that the perpetrators could be members of a big dog poaching group in the area, or people they have confiscated wildlife or underage pups from, while they were attempting to sell the animals at the N14/ R24 intersection in Tarlton.
”Apart from the emotional loss we feel, these dogs were all rescue animals, mixed breeds that came from horrible beginnings, the death from poisoning is agonising and ugly. We have had to incur the costs of cremating the bodies. Plus we have had to burn all the blankets and wooden pallets in the affected runs to prevent secondary poisoning to the remaining dogs and our staff. We have burnt as much of the grass where there may be saliva, blood or faeces and all plastic kennels and concrete surfaces have to be disinfected and neutralised,” she said.
Scrace confirmed that a case was opened at the local police station.
The Krugersdorp News reached out to the West Rand District Police spokesperson, Captain Solomon Sibiya, for comment. An update will be provided once received.
