UPDATE: 14 May 2015, 8pm – The Sandton SPCA is failing in their attempts to locate the two dogs that were bound with wire around their mouths and covered in blood that was spotted in the back of a bakkie traveling towards Hillbrow recently.
According to their latest facebook post about the wired dogs, the orginisation stated that they have had no success in locating the animals. The status further states that the investigation thus far has unveiled that there are more suspects involved in the matter, contrary to what was initially thought.
The status reads: “After an exhaustive search with countless leads and much appreciated assistance from the IRS Forensic department, our sister organisation and the NSPCA we have not had any success in locating the dogs. Our search has turned out more suspects involved than originally thought but with no concrete information on the whereabout of the dogs. We are in the process of filling a criminal case against each individual involved and will be relying heavily from now on the SAPS to assist with tracing the dogs and further investigations. The situation has become threatening and requires more resources and police intelligence then we are able to provide. We will not allow this case to be forgotten and will still pursue the safety of the dogs as tirelessly as we have been since it was reported last week. We would like to thank everyone who has encouraged and assisted and offered to assist during this time, it has been a terribly difficult and taxing time for our organisation. As before we will only update you when we have concrete information to share with you as we do not want to misinform you or fuel any rumours that may be making their rounds on social media.”
Meanwhile, in another animal cruelty case, the SPCA confiscated a dog that was severely injured with wire from a family in Alexandra.
The dog was wired around the neck, so much, that it cut deep into his skin.
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UPDATE: 11 May 2015, 3pm – The SPCA together with IRS Forensic Investigations followed a lead into Thembisa in order to locate the whereabouts of the dogs that were wired to the white Toyota on 11 May.
A representative from the SPCA along with IRS Investigator, Paul Farrow, investigated a location where the dogs were believed to be however after another frantic day searching the dogs have not been found.
The case is high priority for the SPCA and they have not given up hope.
UPDATE: 9 May 2015, 4pm – According to the SPCA their sister organisation has located the driver of the two dogs who were wired to the white Toyota bakkie. The two organisations are jointly working to find the dogs.
UPDATE: 7 May 2015, 1.44pm- SPCA has released a statement indicating that they have received some new information from their sister organisation in the neighbouring country which may shed some light on the whereabouts of the bakkie driver on the run.
Click here to view a timeline of the incident of the dogs that were spotted wired to the bakkie.
UPDATE: 7 May 2015, 12pm – Candice Scorer of the Sandton SPCA said, “Because of the social media explosion, they knew we were looking for them and decided to skip the country.”
According to Scorer she was unable to confirm which country the driver had fled to.
INITIAL REPORT: Wired dogs owner speaks out:
The owner of the dogs which were wired to a bakkie has spoken out.
The North Eastern Tribune managed to get hold of the owner of the dogs.
According to him, he had given them away because the dogs kept fighting with his other pets.
The owner, who is believed to reside in Fourways said, “I gave the dogs away because they were fighting with my other dogs. I am a family man, I have other animals and they are in good condition. I do not know where [the other two] are now.”
According to the owner he handed them over to the driver of the white Toyota bakkie on 5 May.
Chad Thomas from IRS Forensic Investigations said, “We are assisting on a pro bono basis and have a team in Yeoville at present attempting to trace the whereabouts of the suspect. IRS is only verifying information. This information will then be provided to the NSPCA and Saps for prosecution purposes. Our office has been in contact with the investigation team from the NSPCA who stated that they have also dispatched a team to the area.”
According to Thomas, the owner of the bakkie had “leased” the vehicle to a third party who was transported the dogs to Hillbrow on 5 May, the details of which were provided to the IRS investigation team.
Watch a video at the spot where the owner of the vehicle was tracked down:
Sandton SPCA said, “We have just learnt that a group of ‘activists’ took it upon themselves to interfere with the case and have now compromised the dogs’ safety by doing so. The activists, in notifying the incorrect authorities, have tipped off the animal offenders as to our intended actions. We urge you all to please leave the prosecution of animal offenders to the correct authorities and not take matters into your own hands, for your own safety, as well as the animals’.”
On 5 May, Johannesburg resident Nico Pieterse bravely pursued the bakkie from William Nicol all the way into the Joburg CBD.
Pieterse said, “I noticed two dogs had wire in their mouths with blood gushing out while being harnessed to a bakkie. I decided to pursue, I contacted police and the Sandton SPCA. I wanted these dogs to be saved. Their condition was absolutely appalling.”
According to Pieterse, the two males in the bakkie noticed he was following them and started to point fingers at him. Pieterse added, “The men started to laugh at me and were on their cellphones. I followed them into Hillbrow where they went down a one-way road and, in my opinion, it looked as if they were trying to cut me off and come into conflict with me.”
Click here to read our initial report.
Chad Thomas from IRS Forensic Investigations is looking into the matter. Thomas said, “We are currently investigating the case pro bono and we are taking it to heart as this is unacceptable.”
Animal carer James Lee-Thomas said, “The question everyone is asking is, was the bakkie transporting the dogs to a vet? Even if the dogs were being transported to a medical facility, the way in which they were being transported is illegal and unacceptable as the dogs were clearly connected to the vehicle with wire.”
According to a source, the police have made contact with the owner of the bakkie, however, we have been unable to confirm this. Updates to follow.
Has anyone seen these two dogs? Call the SPCA on 011 444 7730 to inform them.
Click here to read our initial report.
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