It’s not often that such stories end happily, but luckily for Melanie Moore things worked out differently. Her horse, affectionately known as Sweets, was stolen from her Honeydew farm on Tuesday night 1 October. The following morning, when she discovered Sweets was gone, she was left utterly devastated.”I was really worried if Sweets was fed and well taken care of wherever she was.”
Moore did whatever she could in her search for her horse. She posted on social networks, she went to the Randburg SPCA and also opened a case at the Honeydew police station and the SAPS Stock Theft Unit.
Together with fellow horse riders, Moore drove around the area with the hope of tracking down Sweets. “We followed foot tracks and they lead us to a river in the direction of Zandspruit, I somehow believed that my horse was there [in Zandspruit].” In stealing the horse, she suspects thieves cut the padlock at the back gate which is close to the horse stall to gain access.
Her horse was located two days after the theft, on Thursday 3 October, thanks to the outstanding work carried out by Kagiso Police Station officers and the SAPS Stock Theft Unit.
According to Moore, the unit contacted most police stations to let them know to be on the lookout for the horse. On Thursday evening police officers from Kagiso Station saw a man riding a horse in the township. They stopped the man and as they were about to question him, he fled, leaving the horse behind.
The Stock Theft Unit was called to identify the horse, and it matched Sweets’ description. Although the police initially had difficultly in contacting her, they made contact with Moore on Friday morning 4 October. Moore was in disbelief, and utterly ecstatic. After receiving the news she rushed to the police station and positively identified her horse. “I had lost hope that we will ever Sweets, when I saw 24 hours passing without finding it I concluded that it was already killed”, Moore said. “I love that they were persistent to find me, if it was other people they would have just let go and say I’m unreachable but they kept on calling till they found me.”
On her arrival at the police station, she was welcomed warmly. “I have never experienced such love and warmth. All staff members were friendly and I met the station commander. They all made me feel very special.”
She was also touched to see that Kagiso police made Sweets feel at home and said she does not know to repay them for they wonderful work they did . “They organised water and apples for Sweets, now that is going beyond their call of duty.” On Friday afternoon, she took a cake to the police station as a token of appreciation.
Although the story has a happy ending, Moore is distressed that in the few days the alleged thieves had Sweets, the horse was terribly abused. She was found with cuts on her mouth, a stomach full of blood, hooves worn off, one leg swollen and her tail was cut. “She [Sweets] won’t be able to defend herself against flies, we will have to get a hair extension for her. Her hooves are worn because I believe they made her walk from Honeydew all the way to Kagiso.”
With the horse found alive, Moore said she feels like the luckiest girl in the world. “The Kagiso police officers deserve an award for the job they did, you can see that they serve with pride.”
At the moment, the horse is on treatment. “We immediately took her to see a vet; she is now on pain killers and still readjusting.”
