The Cape of Good Hope SPCA is calling on members of the public to come forward with any information that can lead to the arrest and prosecution of a dog owner that tied his badly emaciated dog to a pole next to the road in Belmont Park – abandoning the dog.
If you recognize the dog please contact our Inspectorate Immediately on 021 700 4158/9 or 083 326 1604 after hours or send an email to inspectorate@spca-ct.co.za
Abandoned in the Full Sun, With no Shelter or Water.
Yesterday evening the Cape of Good Hope SPCA received an emergency call about an emaciated dog tied to a pole and abandoned in Belmont Park. The kind complainant was waiting with the dog until one of our officials arrived to rescue the dog and could investigate the matter further.
Eyewitness photos taken at the scene
Arrival at the scene
Officer Mthunzi Kunene arrived at the location and was surprised to see two other organisations on site already. Both these organisations have no powers in terms of the Animals Protection Act and have no legal standing to investigate animal cruelty matters.
One of the ladies approached Officer Kunene and instructed him that they will in fact, be taking the dog as they believe that the SPCA will simply euthanase the dog – all of this happening before he was even able to get out of his vehicle!
Another lady then approached Kunene and proceeded to start shouting at him saying, “’you are not taking this dog!”
At this point, Kunene was surrounded by 2 other parked vehicles with 6 ladies around the dog, along with numerous children from the area too. According to a passerby, the person that abandoned the dog informed her that the dog’s name is “Ruff”.
SPCA official being obstructed
Unable to physically reach Ruff, Officer Kunene was obstructed from performing his duties and to attend to the dog.
At this point, a very tired Ruff – who was covered in car oil and previously tied to a pole, abandoned in the full sun with no shelter – was then loaded into one of the ladies’ vehicles.
Not giving up on Ruff, Officer Kunene followed the ladies to a private veterinary practice in Bellville, while waiting for back up from Inspector Jeffrey Mfini to take over and remove the dog to enable the SPCA to continue with our investigation of animal cruelty.
Inspector Mfini arrives
Inspector Jeffery Mfini arrived in Bellville at the private veterinary practice where the ladies persisted that they would continue to refuse to hand Ruff over to the SPCA.
Mfini explained that it is a criminal and prosecutable offence in terms of Section 8(4) of the Animals Protection Act to obstruct an Inspector from performing his or her duties.
Inspector Jeffrey Mfini comforting Ruff
Ruff handed over to the SPCA
Only when the SPCA Inspector threatened legal action, was Ruff handed over into the care of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.
He was taken to the Panorama Veterinary Clinic for immediate veterinary examination and treatment.
Ruff stayed over at the Panorama Veterinary Clinic where he received excellent treatment and his needs were attended to by the veterinary team.
Ruff was transferred to the SPCA Animal Hospital this morning and was examined by one of our in-house veterinarians.
SPCA Vet Dr Spamer examining Ruff at our Animal Hospital this morning
Our veterinary team will continue with his treatment, and the SPCA will do everything in our power to make sure Ruff is healed and that we can find him a loving home.
Veterinary report
According to the veterinary reports, Ruff has severe depressed habitus coupled with a body condition score of 1/9 – which indicates severe starvation and emaciation.
Ruff also has severe muscle loss with severe hair loss (alopecia), skin thickening (lichenification), itching (pruritis) and skin wounds, all of which are consistent with a chronic skin condition. A skin scrape has also confirmed that Ruff has severe sarcoptic mange.
Ruff has been chronically and grossly neglected. His extreme loss of muscle mass indicates prolonged starvation, and his skin condition would have taken a long time to progress to this level.
Bath time for Ruff
Our team had to give Ruff a good bath and scrub to get the car oil off of his skin and coat.
After a few washes, we managed to get most of the car oil off of his skin and coat. After the bath, the severity of the skin condition could be more clearly seen. Many believe that car oil cures skin conditions – this is not true! Under no circumstances must car oil be placed on an animals skin – it only makes matters worse.
The team giving Ruff a good wash to get the oil off. Inspector Mfini jumped in to help.
Ruff is now safe and sound, and enjoying his veterinary prescribed meals sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition. We are hopeful that Ruff will make a full recovery.
Ruff after several baths and a nice, healthy meal. He is now sleeping quietly in the comfort of one of our offices (sarcoptic mange is highly contageous so while he heals, he needs to be kept separate from other animals).
Way forward
The Cape of Good Hope SPCA is currently undertaking a full investigation of this matter and we will make sure that justice is served for Ruff!
It is a criminal offence for any person to abandon an animal, let alone deny an animal much-needed veterinary care and starve an animal.
Ruff was subjected to a cruel life and we are concerned that there might be other animals on the property of the owner that also require our intervention.
There is much more to this story than just rescuing Ruff – we need to make sure the culprit is prosecuted and that if there are other animals on the property they are also rescued.
Donate NOW towards Ruff's treatment and rehabilitation
It is only through YOUR support that we can continue to help animals like Ruff to have a chance for a better future.
The SPCA receives no funding from the government and relies on donations from the public in order to function
Your continued dedication, ongoing support, and passion for protecting the lives of animals is what makes us successful. Thank you for everything you do to help make this a better world for animals.
