The Sandton SPCA was recently burgled and suffered a huge loss during the incident.
The burglary took place just before midnight on 28 July and according to Jaco Pieterse, general manager at the SPCA, the thieves damaged the boundary fence and then proceeded to go through the roof.
“They destroyed the alarms, telephone, and CCTV systems.”
Pieterse said the alarm system they have is quite old and does not have a trigger when the alarm box is destroyed. “Therefore the alarm company did not get any notification.”
He said some of the cameras were damaged and that the whole system was ripped out of the wall, including the hard drive with the footage. “The hard drive was then thrown into the water just outside of our property. We managed to retrieve the hard drive and we are in the process to see if we can retrieve the footage.”
He said they were informed by a guard from the neighbouring company, who was tied up, that there were 16 suspects.
The estimated damage caused is R150 000.
Pieterse said they were almost emptied out and that they were shocked about the desecration and the violation.
“Our first coherent thought was about the safety of our beloved animals.”
He said that none of the animals was harmed and all are safe.
During the burglary, the suspects took five computers, a laptop, flat screen television and two projectors used for their education programmes.
He continued that their new Charity Shop was also damaged with the sliding doors broken and the items rifled through.
“This is a heavy blow and we have tough times ahead of us and it’s an ‘all hands on deck’ situation. With our tightly stretched budget, we would need to divert money from our work to security.”
Pieterse said they are getting quotes for a whole new alarm system with beams around the premises.
“The alarm company will then be notified and dispatched immediately. The new CCTV system will also allow us to look at the cameras off-site from our cell phones.”
The SPCA is calling on the community to assist with donations.
Details: Sandton SPCA 011 444 7730.
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