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Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Please read the following post regarding a 24 hour Vet on Wheels and keep the number at hand ... Regards Davina Robbers poisoning pets to shut them up The Centurion area, including The Reeds and Rooihuiskraal, has become the latest killing field for dogs. More than a hundred dogs have been poisoned in the past month in this area. It appears that the animals are killed by housebreakers wanting to get the dogs out of the way before they target that particular house. About two weeks ago, 30 dogs were poisoned over one weekend in the area. A pet owner in Lyttelton lost all five of her dogs, including a six-week-old puppy, while another lost her eight dogs, due to poisoning. Things have now got so bad that pet lover Maria Conradie and her partner Grant Peel of The Reeds have started a service called Vet on Wheels. They will transport a poisoned animal free of charge to a designated vet in Centurion who is willing to attend to the animals 24 hours a day. "I lost one of my dogs last week and my other dog barely pulled through," Conradie said. She told the Pretoria News that her neighbour's dog was also poisoned at the same time, but managed to pull through. The poison that is being used is Aldicarb, an organo-phosphate used for agricultural purposes. It looks similar to small peppercorns or poppy seeds, but is deadly. Inspector Reinette Coetzee of Wierdabrug police station said they are aware that this particular poison is being used. It is available on the street - where it is commonly known as "two-step", because the dog usually takes only two steps before dying. Coetzee said the poison had been taken off the market, and anyone caught with it would be prosecuted. She confirmed that there have been recent cases in The Reeds/Rooihuiskraal area where people were caught with the poison in their possession. Aldicarb can be absorbed through the skin. "It is very dangerous, and people do not know what they are playing with," Coetzee warned. It is sold on the street as rat poison, but potential housebreakers hide it inside meat or a sausage and throw it over the wall for the dogs to eat. Conradie said this normally happens during the night, because pet owners discover only the next day that their dogs have been poisoned. Then it was usually too late to save the animal from a cruel death, she added. Coetzee said they have had a few cases, especially in The Reeds area, where owners had complained that their dogs had been poisoned. In many of the cases, a crime or an attempted crime, such as housebreaking or car theft, followed a few days later. She, however, could not confirm how many cases of dog poisoning there had been. "People normally do not contact us when their dogs are poisoned. We urge them to do this, because then we can know which areas are targeted," she said. Conradie said the poisoning had been so rife during the past month that she and her partner were up until the early hours of the morning last week to save some of the dogs. She believes crime is the motive, because two days after her Irish wolfhound was poisoned, her car alarm went off. Luckily her dog, who survived the poisoning, barked, Conradie said. Colleen Bennett of the Centurion SPCA also confirmed that dog poisoning in the Centurion area had taken on alarming proportions. Pet owners are cautioned to patrol around their fences for any suspicious-looking meat. It also helps to keep the animal in the back of the yard during the night, Bennett said. Anyone who wants to make use of the 24-hour Vet on Wheels service can phone Conradie on 083-241-4452. [Posted by: Davina at 10:45 am]
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 Every animal deserves love, protection and our voice.
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