Cape Town – A pit bull owner is facing charges of animal cruelty, obstruction and malicious damage to property after he allegedly verbally abused a Cape of Good Hope(CoGH) SPCA Inspector and damaged the organisation's vehicle.
After receiving a complaint about a starved pit bull being kept on a short chain in Ocean View, CoGH SPCA Inspector Jeffrey Mfini was assigned to investigate the case.
At the property, Mfini found a dog called “Lastag”, which means annoying.
“Moving forward, we will call the dog, Prince, because he is worth nothing less than royalty with his sweet and loving personality,” the organisation noted.
“(Mfini) found Prince on a 1-meter chain. Prince could hardly move around and was found in an emaciated state. The owner had every excuse under the sun and made several promises to take the dog to a veterinarian and to let Prince roam freely inside the property. Sadly, this never happened.”
Due to the owner’s non-compliance, Mfini obtained a court order in terms of the Animals Protection Act, read together with Regulation 468, to confiscate Prince.
With the court order, Mfini returned to the property and was escorted by members of the Ocean View SAPS.
“Even with a police escort, the owner was still obstructive and became very hostile towards (Mfini). (Mfini) was not going to be intimidated by the owner. (Mfini) walked onto the property and executed the court order, even with the owner trying to stop him.
“While (Mfini) was busy cutting the chain with bolt cutters, all you could see was Prince wagging his tail – very excited that he was being rescued.”
With Prince safely in the back of the SPCA vehicle, Mfini issued the owner with a seizure notice.
“At this point, the owner got so angry that he punched the SPCA vehicle, causing damage to it. (Mfini) was also verbally abused.
“The owner will now be facing charges of animal cruelty, obstruction and malicious damage to property.”
Prince is now in the SPCA’s care, where he will be nurtured back into good health.
Members of the public have been urged to report any cases of animal cruelty to the SPCA Inspectorate by calling their 24-hour call centre on 021 700 4158/9 or 083 326 1604. Alternatively, email: [email protected]
Cape Times