Man boasts about cutting off dog's tail
2011-06-01 10:29
Johannesburg - A man is facing animal cruelty charges after he apparently left a braai on Saturday and walked into a Benoni family’s property with a knife, chopping the tail off one of their two Rottweilers.
"The man, who is known to us, came into our yard, walked past the house, caught the dog and chopped off his tail," said an upset Amanda Smith on Tuesday.
"He told us before that a Rottweiler should have a short tail.
"Those two are like my children. How can someone do something like this?” she said, referring to her two dogs Ceaser, who is 14 months old, and Brutus, 3.
She explained that she and her husband, Hannes, left their home next to the school grounds in Benoni on Saturday afternoon to visit family members.
"The dogs were in the back yard and my father-in-law, Jan, 83, stayed at home to watch the rugby."
Blood everywhere
Smith said when it became cold during the afternoon, Jan wanted to let the two dogs into the house.
"When he went out, there was blood everywhere. He is a hard of hearing and didn’t hear what was going on outside.
"He called us and we rushed home. When we got there we called the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and the police also came,” said Smith.
The dog was at that stage quite weak from blood loss but has since recovered. He was discharged from the animal hospital on Monday.
The vet put in stitches and treated him, but said he wouldn’t be able to sit on the stump.
After the incident, the man apparently threw the tail somewhere next to the road and then went back to the braai, boasting about what he had done.
He called the Smiths on Sunday morning to apologise.
Karin Rheeders, manager of the SPCA in Benoni, said they were busy gathering information with a view to making a charge of animal cruelty with the police.