Cape Town -
The police and animal welfare groups rescued more than two dozen dogs destined for Angola and arrested two foreigners suspected of trying to smuggle the dogs across the border.
On Monday the animal welfare task team rescued the 26 allegedly stolen dogs from a journey that would have seen them lying, paralysed, in their own urine while they starved.
Operations began three weeks ago when the task team received a tip-off from the South African border – two Angolan nationals were asking what paperwork they would need to take their dogs out of the country.
“We had been watching them for weeks,” former military officer and Global Animal Welfare consultant Mariette Hopley told the Cape Argus.
The two suspects were nabbed in Diep River by police and SPCA officials while transporting purebred dogs and puppies, including German shepherds, huskies and Rottweilers.
Hopley said the dogs were set to be smuggled across the Angolan border by the end of the week, where they would have been used by security firms or in breeding pens or fighting pits, or even eaten. While the dogs were found in good condition, it would have been a different story a week down the line, she said.
“[The smugglers] feed them and keep them healthy so they can get all the proper paperwork,” said Hopley. “As soon as they have that, they don’t care – they stop feeding them.”
Hopley described how the dogs would be loaded on to the back of bakkies, where they would be forced to sleep in their faeces and urine and without even an open window to give them relief from the heat.
Milan Cronje, who works with the non-profit organisation Watershed, described how in previous cases dogs and puppies were tied down with chicken wire. The dogs are now being housed in a safe shelter where they will be fed and assessed by medical staff.
The Angolans, who were arrested on the scene, are being investigated and a case has been lodged against them. Hopley confirmed one of the suspects had been positively identified in connection with a large smuggling syndicate responsible for trafficking more than 120 000 dogs from South Africa.
Task team member Captain William Dreyer said dog smuggling was incredibly lucrative, with purebred dogs pulling in R10 000 each. He said “runners” or “smugglers” were just the “tip of the tip of the iceberg”.
* The task team is urging anyone whose dog has been stolen recently to call Hopley at 083 254 5523 or Captain Dreyer at 082 469 2549.
Cape Argus