Midrand SPCA catch minors illegally hunting wildlife

As school holidays commence, the Midrand SPCA and Community Policing Forum (CPF) have caught children involved in illegal hunting with dogs in the area.

On 22 November, the SPCA received complaints about illegal hunting that was taking place near President Park. A number of minors were found to be hunting illegally and 16 of their dogs were impounded.

“This morning [23 November], our team got called out yet again for illegal hunting and we spent a nightmarish couple of hours chasing dogs and hunters over the K101 highway,” said Brenda Lucas of the Midrand SPCA.

“These were very tense moments for us with dogs scattering all over this busy road. But with the help of our team and CPF members, we finally managed to catch all 10 dogs and the hunters.”

Lucas said the illegal hunting complaints began on 18 November but no perpetrators were found on the day. On the other two days, dogs were impounded and dead wildlife carcasses were also found.

“The illegal hunting has been a problem for many years in the Midrand area. It is increasing now especially during the school holidays where children go out to hunt,” added Lucas.

Lucas indicated that the children were contravening the law as they did not possess any hunting permit and that hunting with dogs was illegal. “There’s a number of Acts that are being contravened including the Animal Protection Act, Trespassing Act and Animal Stock Theft Act. Many of the dogs are in a bad condition and have various medical conditions.

“In just two days we have 26 additional animals in our care.”

Steven Johnstone of the policing forum said areas that were targeted for illegal hunting were President Park and Glen Austin. According to him, the most targeted animals were wild rabbits. “It is a continual problem,” he said.

“The children come from Rabie Ridge and Kaalfontein areas. Those that were found were taken to their homes and a discussion was held with their parents. They were issued with verbal warnings.”

It was later confirmed that the parents of three boys involved in this illegal activity were issued letters of warning by the SPCA.

Lucas said the SPCA would be working in conjunction with Nature Conservation to find a solution to the illegal hunting problem in the Midrand area. “We have a lot of other work to attend to and we have spent many hours chasing around hunters and dogs for the sake of the defenceless wildlife that is being targeted. It costs us a lot of time and resources as we have to pull as many of our staff as we can from the kennels as well to come and assist.”

Inspector Jerry Seemise who responded to the calls was one of those congratulated for a job well done.

“Thank you very much to Bruce Beevers, chairman of the CPF Sector 1 for assisting,” concluded Lucas.

“We need to give a very special thanks to CPF Sector 1 vice chairman [Miguel Assis] who also accompanied us to all the homes of the minors to issue warnings to their parents. We further thank the Metro police and our team at SPCA. It’s been a tough week but they never hesitated to jump in when needed.”

For more on the Animal Protection Act, click here.

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