By Maureen Marud
Cape Peninsula pets are being fed as bait to dogs being trained to kill as part of what animal rescue organisations say is a growing appetite for the banned "sport" of dog fighting.
The fights are sometimes heard but seldom seen except by those involved in making money from the bloody spectacle.
The SPCA's chief inspector, Andries Venter, has warned that smaller dogs, especially Maltese poodles, are being stolen to incite fighting dogs and to train them to kill.
He urged the Cape Argus to make the problem public.
"(Then) a lot more people will come forward who have had their pets thrown to fighting dogs," he said.
Continues Below ↓
Karen de Klerk, the public relations officer for Animal Rescue, said: "Dog fighting is rife across the peninsula, and it is not confined just to poorer communities."
Colette Teale of the Karoo Animal Protection Society said an injured bull terrier she rescued in Paarl had been stolen from Fish Hoek about nine months ago.
"It was full of wounds, on the side of the road with two men I knew had been using it for fighting.
"They sold it to me because it looked like it was going to die anyway. But it survived, and we tracked down the owner in Fish Hoek."
She suspected that the disappearance of more and more dogs from the area around Barrydale was linked to dog fighting syndicates.
Pitbull fighting was an "absolute scourge" in Ocean View near Fish Hoek, said Marilyn Hoole, co-founder of the Tears animal rescue organisation.
As part of the pitbull's training, some owners "put them in a small enclosure and then throw a cat or a puppy in for them to rip to shreds", said Hoole.
"I feel desperate because the situation is getting out of control. One of these days it is going to be a child that is shredded."
She estimated that someone's pet was savaged "almost daily" in Ocean View.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
