Dog poisoning with the intention to break into houses

Dog poisoning with the intention to break into houses in South Africa
Dog poisoning with the intention to break into houses in South Africa

South Africa, Elardus Park – Home-owners should be on the look-out for criminals who are poisoning dogs in their areas. Dog poisoning with the intention to break into houses is making the rounds in Elardus Park and the community police forum (CPF) is warning residents to be on the look-out. This was revealed after a resident in the area lost a dog when they visited Limpopo for a few days recently.

According to Marietjie van Zyl, who lost a dog, someone might have tried to poison her dogs with the intention of gaining access to her yard.

Van Zyl, who is now living in fear, said when they left for Limpopo recently, a friend was requested to check on and feed her two dogs and cat. The friend only realised a day later that one of the dogs was missing.

”We contacted our friend every evening to find out if everything was under control and that’s when she told us that she could not find one of the dogs. We immediately returned home the following day and when we got home we checked the yard and found the dog lying dead with foam coming out from its mouth. The next day the other dog became sick and we immediately took it to the vet who managed to save the dog. There was lot of vomiting,” explained Van Zyl.

”I am so concerned about our safety and having a two-year-old baby who likes to play outside its scares me a lot. I’m worried that my baby might eat some of the food that contains the poison,” she said.

She confirmed that a case of cruelty against animals had been opened at the Lyttelton police station.

JC van Niekerk, the chairman of the Lyttelton sector 4 community police subforum, said they were very concerned about such incidents

Korky Levanon, public relations officer at the SPCA, said the poisoning of pets is the most cruel and inhumane way to kill an animal.

She also recently said that Temik, or ‘Two-step’ as it is known, had become a powerful weapon used by burglars to silence their canine victims.

The substance symptoms of Aldicarb poisoning include weakness, headaches, vomiting and eventually death, if untreated.

“It takes almost an hour and a half for symptoms to show and the poison attacks the nervous system and inhibits breathing.”

”We advise pet owners to keep their dogs inside or in the back yard at night. Pets should also be fed at night to prevent them from eating poisoned bait,” she concluded.

The Lyttelton police were not immediately available for comment.

Source

South Africa Today – South Africa News