Dog stabbed, left to die in PE
2011-10-26 08:05
Port Elizabeth - The search is on for the person who half-strangled a dog, sliced it open with a panga, broke its legs and left it for dead, according to a newspaper report on Wednesday.
The dog was found lying helplessly in a bog of mud and sewage effluent, its gaping wound infested with maggots, near Missionvale Primary School, Port Elizabeth, the Herald reported.
Patricia Vilane, 52, was walking home when she heard a whining sound.
“I saw the dog and at first thought it was dead. Then it lifted its head and it looked at me, as if it was asking for help.
“There was a thin string that was pulled tight around its neck. It was not like what you would use to take the dog for a walk. It was like someone tried to strangle it, but God did not allow it. Its nose was bleeding, and it could not walk."
Put down
Vilane called the Animal Anti-Cruelty League for help.
League volunteer Karien van Schalkwyk said she had been working in the field for three years and had dealt with some terrible cases.
“But this one broke my heart.
“The dog had what looked to me like a panga wound on its one side. It must have been lying there for some time because the maggots were starting to eat the wound.”
The league vet who examined the dog established that at least one leg was broken or dislocated but it appeared the others might also have been broken as it was totally unable to stand, she said.
"It was anyway so far gone that nothing could be done to help it, so it was put down," she said.
The league has offered a R200 reward for any information that would lead them being able to find and charge the culprit, she said.
"A person capable of this is just as capable of raping or murdering a human, which is why the community needs to come together to identify and punish [this person].”
- SAPA
