Roodepoort / Krugersdorp SPCA vents frustration around horror festive season
“The SPCA cannot and will not turn any sentient creature away. We care for all animals.”
The ebbs and flows of the yearly calendar bring stark contrasts for various industries. While most were enjoying a rather more muted festive season than usual, the troubles of 2020 were amplified to horrific levels for the Roodepoort / Krugersdorp SPCA.
December is traditionally a month that SPCA staff wearily prepare for, fully aware of the endless string of heartbreaking case of animal negligence and abuse. “The number of animals which are brought into the SPCA is double that of usual months. The reasons for bringing the animals in vary from moving, relocating and allergies, to those simply going away,” said Roodepoort / Krugersdorp SPCA Manager, Mandy Cattanach.
Above and beyond the regular flurry of strays and surrenders that come through the SPCA’s doors are cases that shock even the most desensitised staff member. This December saw three incidents that shook Mandy and her staff, with the first involving a cat that got trapped in a hostel kitchen. “A group of underage residents cornered the cat in the canteen area, chased and beat the poor cat to death with sticks and bats,” recalled Mandy.
Another depressing incident took place in Kagiso where a dog returned to the property where he was living after his owners had moved house. “The dog somehow escaped from his new yard and ran back to his old home. The tenant in the old house thought the dog was a tokoloshe sent to the yard to put a curse on them. They cornered the dog, threw it into a plastic bag, doused it with flammable liquid and set the poor dog alight,” said Mandy.
The final alarming case was when a woman arrived at reception with a suitcase which staff thought may be a donation. Dumbfounded, they found a dog gasping for air with a rope tightly wound around its neck. “The poor animal had been forcefully dragged into the suitcase with the rope which has pulled tight around his neck and then stuffed into a car’s boot in the blazing heat,” the exhausted manager recounted.
This all put into sharp focus the need to make measured decisions when considering taking on the responsibility of owning a pet. “I do not understand why people don’t sterilise their animals, or if they cannot afford to do so then don’t have pets,” she stressed.
Understandably hardened by experience, she reiterates her commitment to the animals, “The SPCA cannot and will not turn any sentient creature away. We care for all animals.”
