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Two pooches 'saved from pot'
26/07/2005 22:23 - (SA)
Virginia Keppler, Beeld
Pretoria - Dogs are being stolen in the east of Pretoria and Centurion, presumably to be eaten, a Pretoria woman has discovered at first-hand.
Annette Jordaan of Moreleta Park in the east of Pretoria rescued two Maltese just in time last week. They probably also were meant for the cooking pot.
Jordaan had to pay two men R40 (R20 a dog) to get the two Maltese.
She told on Tuesday how she had seen the two men walking in a street in this suburb with the dogs under their arms.
She said the men did not look like the dogs' owners and she stopped her car and asked them where they had got the animals. "They said they had found the dogs and were looking for the owners, but couldn't find them."
Jordaan decided to tell a white lie and said she knew the dogs' owners because she was uncertain what the true situation was.
Returned dogs to their owners
She said the men were reluctant to hand over the dogs and wanted to know from her where they, themselves, would get food.
"Then I offered to pay R20 for each dog."
Meanwhile she has managed to trace the dogs' owners, who live just a few houses away from her home, and on Tuesday night the dogs were home again.
Recently, the Wetnose Centre in Centurion rescued a fox terrier which apparently also was destined for the pot.
The organisation's Tracy Forte said that animals were increasingly disappearing, never to be found again.
"Apart from being stoeln for the pot, dogs also are taken for illegal underground dog-fights," said Forte.
She believes people often steal the smaller dogs for food, because they are easier to handle and not so aggressive.
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