The Cape of Good Hope SPCA received a complaint about a dog at a residence in Lansdowne that had allegedly been bitten in the face by another dog, and whose owner was refusing his dog the urgent medical treatment it desperately needed.
Arriving at the property, SPCA Inspector Mark Syce was shown a male dog named Buster who displayed wounds on and about his face that were consistent with bite wounds (or some other traumatic event), and was in urgent need of veterinary treatment. The dog’s owner, who was not home at the time, was issued with an SPCA Warning to get the dog to a veterinarian within the next 24 hours and that a veterinary report be forwarded to the SPCA as confirmation that the dog had been treated.
Two days later, the Inspector returned to the property to establish if the dog had been taken to a veterinarian as ordered. The dog’s owner was not home and while Inspector Syce was granted access to the property by the landlord, he could not see the dog as it was apparently locked indoors.
A further Warning was issued for the dog to be taken to a veterinarian within 24 hours for examination and treatment and for a full veterinary report to be provided to the SPCA on the dog’s condition.
The following day, SPCA Inspector Jeffery Mfini visited the property to check on the dog’s condition. Finding the dog’s owner again not home, Inspector Mfini spoke to the dog owners’ brother who informed him that the dog had in fact not yet been treated. Inspector Mfini wrote out a third Warning to comply for the dog to be taken to a veterinarian within 24 hours for examination and treatment, and to provide the SPCA with a veterinary report thereof.
Inspector Syce returned to the property the following afternoon to conduct a follow-up inspection.
This time, Buster’s owner was at home. When asked to see the dog, the owner informed our Inspector that the dog was not currently on the property, insisting that “the dog must be roaming the streets,” after another tenant on the property had left the front gate open.
The owner however was able to confirm that he had not yet taken his dog to a vet for treatment. The owner was then issued with a Final Warning to get his dog treated by a veterinarian within 18 hours and to provide the SPCA with a veterinary report thereof.
The next day, Inspector Mark Syce again went to the property in Lansdowne and this time presented the owner with a court order giving the SPCA permission to remove Buster and citing the owner for failing to take his dog to a veterinarian for treatment as he was ordered to do six days prior.
Despite the owner driving off in his vehicle before the Inspector could hand him the requisite Seizure Notice, Buster finally got to receive medical treatment for his facial wounds at the Cape of Good Hope SPCA in Grassy Park.
The attending SPCA vets were horrified that the dog had been denied treatment for so long and had suffered severe pain unnecessarily for at least a week.
The SPCA will seek charges of animal cruelty against the dog’s owner in terms of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962, Section 2(1)(a), (e), (q), and (r) for the needless suffering endured by Buster.
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