A 68-year-old man from Elandsdrift could be liable for a hefty fine, if not imprisonment, for allegedly shooting a dog three times on 3 October.
According to an SPCA statement, the Inspectors of the Randburg SPCA accompanied by Muldersdrift Police charged to the scene in Muldersdrift where witnesses had seen the man shooting a female pit bull after she and another dog got into a scuffle.
“SPCA officers interviewed the witnesses and examined the medium-sized mixed breed dog that survived the altercation with the pit bull. The dog was not injured and did not need veterinary treatment.
“After identifying the shooter, Inspector Shiven Bodasing, Head of the SPCA Inspectorate engaged with the suspect, and it was discovered that the man heard the dogs barking and fighting outside his property in a common area which borders all the neighbours on the plot. The suspect went into his house, fetched his firearm, walked out of his premises to the fighting dogs a few metres away, and instead of attempting to separate them, he fired three shots into the female pit bull,” the statement read.
Bodasing was quoted in the statement as follows: “As officers, we are vested with a certain discretion, and are empowered to investigate offences in respect of animals. In respect of this incident, it was clear that there existed far less severe methods the suspect could have employed in order to achieve the same result. It was neither reasonable nor necessary to resort to shooting the animal, there was no attempt made to separate the animals, there were people all around him; he was not entitled to take the law into his own hands. The most inexcusable aggravating fact of this matter is that he discharged a firearm in such a manner to expose other people to immediate danger,” Bodasing reflected on the merits of the case.
Assisting the head Inspector, Cadet Bradley Hughes added, “It was so unnecessary to have to shoot the dog; the other dog was not even injured in the fight, so it clearly wasn’t severe enough to warrant the use of a firearm”.
To make things worse, it was reported that none of the dogs belonged to the suspect, and the fight did not occur on his premises, rather a few metres from his property.
The SPCA removed the lifeless body of the female pit bull from a shallow grave behind the premises for post mortem examination and fragment ballistics.
“The man was taken into custody and charged with animal cruelty, as well as the unlawful discharge of a firearm and malicious damage to property,” the statement further read.
Muldersdrift Police spokesperson Constable Boitumelo Sehlohlo confirmed the arrest of the suspect on the same day of the incident. She added that he received police bail and appeared in court on 6 October.
The SPCA noted that animal cruelty is a schedule 1 offence, and any person convicted of such an offence is liable to a fine of R40 000 or direct imprisonment without the option of a fine, in terms of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962.
