GAUTENG. – The National Council of Animal Welfare Associations (NDBV) will open a dossier against police officials for alleged contraventions of the Animal Protection Act 71 of 1962. The dossier comes following the death of Sky, a five-year-old police dog.
Senior Inspector De Klerk, head of the NDBV's special projects unit, says Sky was found seriously injured in her kennel at the SAPD's veterinary hospital in Roodeplaat on seven September. She was taken to Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital, but her condition deteriorated and she was euthanised on nine September.
According to the NDBV's investigation, Sky had suffered severe problems with kennel stress, separation anxiety and attempts to escape from her kennel since March. Her records indicated, according to the organisation, that she had a poor prognosis in the SAPD environment by August.
The NDBV says a post-mortem examination found, among other things, extensive muscle damage to her front legs and signs of chronic stress. According to the organisation, the findings point to sustained suffering and not merely a single incident. The NDBV says the Animal Protection Act places a legal duty of care on those responsible for animals and that the matter will be pursued through the criminal justice system.
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This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
