Raymond Koegelenberg of Parow will report to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) today (Monday) to start 400 hours of community service after he admitted setting his pitbull alight a year ago.
He has been declared unfit to own animals for 15 years, while ownership of his two other pets has been passed to the SPCA.
The sentence was handed down last week by the Bellville Regional Court after Koegelenberg, pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty.
He admitted in an affidavit that he had set the kennel alight because he wanted to punish his dog, Tammy, for jumping over the fence into the neighbour's premises.
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He had set the kennel alight after dowsing it with paraffin.
But he said he had no intention of burning the dog.
Koegelenberg and his girlfriend were initially arrested in connection with the incident and charged under the Animal Protection Act.
They made several court appearances, but the charges were later withdrawn against his girlfriend and she and Koegelenberg are no longer together.
If he fails to complete his community service, or is found guilty of a similar offence, he will have to pay a fine of R2 000 or serve 12 months in prison.
The SPCA's inspectors were first directed to the property a year ago, where they found the dog with severe burn wounds, whimpering in her charred kennel.
The dog had burns on her face, legs and belly and her eyes were also badly injured. The skin around her eyes was raw.
The SPCA inspectors rescued her and took her to the animal hospital, but her body was raw with burn wounds and she had to be put down.
The inspectors also removed two other dogs from Koegelenberg's property - a pitbull and a German shepherd - and awarded ownership of these dogs to the SPCA.
In a statement, chief inspector of the SPCA Andries Venter hoped that "never again" would an animal have to suffer at the hands of "such horrific cruelty".
"We also hope that with his time spent doing community work at the SPCA he will learn compassion for animals and remorse."
fatima.schroeder@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on November 05, 2007
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