Happy day! Fantastic report in yesterday's Argus on the smugglers bust on route to Stellenbosch. Well done to everyone involved and a constant reminder to us all that we need to keep our eyes peeled for any suspicious behaviour and report it! If you don't know who to contact, please email me and I will pass the info along.
Cape Town - The pups were found crammed
into milk crates on the back of a truck. Scared, thirsty and hungry, the trio
of dogs recovered on Thursday are suspected to be the latest additions to 262
dogs rescued from a national smuggling ring since last year.
According to sources, the dogs were on
their way to Angola where they would probably have spent their brief lives in
breeding pens and being blooded and eventually killed in fighting pits.
The National Animal Welfare Task Team,
established to bring down an elusive dog smuggling cartel that has reportedly
been operating in South Africa for more than a decade, said that with the help
of the public it was closing in on some of the ring’s biggest players.
Thursday’s rescue followed an anonymous
tip-off that two trucks in Stellenbosch were transporting stolen dogs out of
the country. Police intercepted the first truck on
the Klapmuts Road and found the three pups, aged about seven months, inside. The driver was arrested on charges of
transporting animals across provincial borders without a permit, animal abuse
and neglect.
Animal rights activist Mariette Hopley
said the driver claimed he was travelling to Mpumalanga, but if one of the dogs
- none of which were microchipped - is found to be stolen, he could face far
more serious charges. SPCA senior inspector Moyo Ndukwana
said it was too soon to link the driver to the dog smuggling ring. “But we know the role players in the
cartel, so once we conduct an investigation we will be able to put the pieces
together.” Ndukwana said the investigation would
be difficult because none of the dogs had been microchipped.
Cape of Good Hope SPCA chief executive
Allan Perrins said the area where the truck had been pulled over was a
well-known smuggling route. The other truck, believed to have nine
dogs aboard, has so far eluded police. For task team leader Hopley, a former
major in the SA Air Force who flew to Iraq in 2003 to rescue animals at the
war-torn Baghdad Zoo, missing the truck is frustrating. She has seen the how smugglers
transport dogs, from locking them into tiny boxes to tying them to the roof of
trucks, and even shoving them into glove compartments. They are often found starved, thirsty
and lying in their own excrement. “They don’t feed them, they don’t give
them water. They just don’t care,” Hopley said.
Officials have been alerted to the missing
truck along all the major dog smuggling routes - which include the N7 that
leads to the Namibian border, the N1 and N12 leading to Mpumalanga. Hopley has called on people to look out
for the truck, a grey 11-ton Volvo. “And if you see any truck driver
loading or unloading dogs in crates you should alert us. We will find this
truck.”
The SPCA has aided the task team in
numerous operations in the past, from actively confiscating the animals to
providing shelter and food. Hopley said only one of the recovered
dogs had been sterilised. “He also had a bump on his head, which
could have been from a scuffle. All the signs point towards the fact that he
was stolen.”
In the past, smugglers have brazenly
stolen purebred dogs from homes. Hopley estimated that over 120 000 pups had
been smuggled to Angola since the cartel began operating in South Africa. The most wanted dogs are German
shepherds, Rottweilers, pitbulls and boerboels. The three pups recovered on
Thursday were all of mixed breeds.
Hopley said South African dogs were
generally in high demand because smugglers believed they were healthy and more
aggressive. “The dogs we picked up on Friday are
muscular and are mixed-breeds of popular fighting dogs. They definitely look
like they were going to be fighters.” Dog fighting in Angola was a lucrative
industry, with bets as high as R80 000 being placed regularly, said the task
team. Dogs can fetch over R25 000, while
puppies can go for R10 000 or more. But Hopley said the task team was
closing in on the “big guys”.
With the help of public tip-offs,
smugglers were being intercepted soon after setting off. She has called on people to be vigilant
and keep their eyes open for trucks and bakkies transporting large numbers of dogs. “And if you see a purebred dog tied up
on its own you should also be concerned. Many smugglers leave them like that to
be collected by transporters later.”
Owners whose dogs have been stolen,
can check the National Animal Welfare Task Team’s Facebook page to see if their
dog has been found. Since last year, 12 dogs have been
reunited with their owners while most of the remaining 250 other dogs have been
adopted.
If you suspect that your dog has been
stolen, or if you have any information that might assist the task team with
their operations, contact Mariette Hopley on 083 254 5523, or during office
hours on 021 531 7815, e-mail mariettehopley@aol.com.
Smugglers ‘targeting dog shows’
Smugglers ‘targeting dog shows’
Dog smuggling syndicates are now
attending dog shows to pick their next targets. The Cape Rottweiler Club is on high
alert, and has warned owners intending to show their dogs not to disclose any
personal details such as their home address. These details have also been removed
from show catalogues. “We were told these guys are now
following people home,” said club secretary Tamirinda Schreuder.
The club is no stranger to the syndicate’s activity. Last year, club chairman Osman Damon awoke to find a hole in his fence and two of his seven pure-bred Rottweilers missing. His dogs were later found among 30 dogs rescued from the Angolan border in August last year. While his dog Bonnee survived the trip, their older Rottweiler Nero died after being starved by smugglers. Bonnee was reunited with her owners just a few days after she was found. “I don’t know who is happier, her or me,” said Damon at the time.
The club is no stranger to the syndicate’s activity. Last year, club chairman Osman Damon awoke to find a hole in his fence and two of his seven pure-bred Rottweilers missing. His dogs were later found among 30 dogs rescued from the Angolan border in August last year. While his dog Bonnee survived the trip, their older Rottweiler Nero died after being starved by smugglers. Bonnee was reunited with her owners just a few days after she was found. “I don’t know who is happier, her or me,” said Damon at the time.
Cape
Argus