ESTCOURT KZN: Cruel and brutal slaughter of farm livestock [WARNING: Graphic content]
"It was soul-destroying to be quite honest"
Since the beginning of June, local farmers have been bearing the emotional and financial brunt of the brutal slaughter of several cattle on their farms.
Last week was one of the worst for the owner of Fyvie Farm near Wembezi, with a total of eight cattle stabbed.
“This last lot that were stabbed and slaughtered was the worst we’ve had here for a very long time. It was soul-destroying to be quite honest,” said Andrew Simpson from Fyvie Farm.
Four of the animals died.
“One was butchered and all the meat taken. One we found dead from her wounds on Friday morning. I had the vet come out to stitch two of them up, but the one died as we were putting the last stitches in and the other didn’t make it through Friday night. The other four are recovering. All of the animals that were attacked were in calf and due to calve in autumn next year. The actions of the perpetrators are absolutely barbaric and incredibly cruel to the animals, I hate to know how they must have suffered,” explained Mr Simpson.
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Another local farmer, Shaun Braithwaite, has also suffered losses at the hands of the individuals who are responsible for the brutal slaughter of livestock.
“Since June, until now, between Braithwaite Farm and Master Milking, we have had 11 animals slaughtered. We have suffered huge financial losses and the cruelty in the way the animals have been killed is sickening,” commented Mr Braithwaite.
Another affected farmer, Warren Blaker, called the actions of the perpetrators “barbaric”.
“This is a daily challenge of farming in South Africa,” Mr Blaker said.
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