Many other residents in eMalahleni have reported that their dogs have been poisoned just in the last seven days.
On February 12 before 05:00 a couple living in Highveld Park found their two dogs vomiting and shaking from eating poisoned food. Wendy Britz saw her husband off to work as she does every morning before 05:00 and every morning their dogs greet them cheerfully at the door, but that morning they were nowhere to be found. Naturally they went looking for the dogs and found them in the backyard vomiting and shaking violently. “Words can’t describe how bad it is to see them suffering,” she said. They immediately called the veterinary emergency line who told them to bring the dogs to the clinic in Woltemade Street immediately. “They seem to be recovering well, but they sleep inside the house now.
We are not letting them sleep outside every again,” said Britz. She said that they looked very weak and sickly for several days after the incident.
In another recent case on February 12 a woman found her two Dachshunds dead when they went outside in the morning to feed them. The resident who lives in Blanchville said that her Ridgeback was also poisoned but managed to survive the ordeal after several days of recovery. Her daughter who lives in the same street called the Witbank 911 team at 01:00 in the morning on Valentine’s Day when she found her dogs poisoned after hearing a commotion in the yard. They dogs were a Pit bull and a Yorkshire terrier. Paramedics actually came out to try and treat the dogs. Apparently the Yorkie did not survive.
Mariska Strydom was shocked when her Bullterrier was poisoned last week as well. She said, “We paid a lot of money for our dog, but you cannot put a price on an animal. It is about the passion and love we have for our animals. I would have given another R30 000 to see her pull through.” Her Bullterrier was apparently a thorough bred show dog worth thousands of rand.
There are many more incidents that never get reported to the SAPS. Marlene Botha the owner of the Dutch hounds asked the question, “What is the use?” It seems residents feel that reporting it to the authorities would not accomplish anything, yet SAPS spokesperson Sgt David Ratau has urged residents in the past to report incidents like this as it may assist them in other ongoing investigations.
