Cape Town - When Courtney Macfarlane bought a visibly-starved puppy from a homeless man for R50, she had only wanted to rescue it from horrible conditions. But the first-year Stellenbosch University student later became aware of the growing illegal puppy trade when she handed it to the Animal Welfare Society Stellenbosch (AWSS).
The organisation has been trying to stymie the increasing sales of puppies on the roadside in the Winelands.
Macfarlane said she had asked the man to take the animal to the shelter, but he wanted R50 for it instead. “I didn’t really know what to do but I could see how hurt and hungry the puppy was, so I just gave the man money and took it to the shelter.
“The puppy could have only been a few weeks old and it just broke my heart to see it in pain and I knew I couldn’t leave it there.
“I’m so so happy that we got him to the shelter, and he’s happy and safe and healthy now,” she said.
AWSS spokesperson Jessica Perrins said that the puppy was one of 20 animals which had been sold illegally in and around Stellenbosch in the past month.
She said the organisation had noticed an increase in illegal puppy trading, especially around the university.
Perrins said the illegal sale of puppies was a year-round problem but the practice escalated with the arrival of first-year students.
Lorna Hughes, AWSS general manager, with two of the puppies bought on the roadside, which have been nursed back to good health.
She appealed to the public not to buy puppies on the side of the road.
“Buying any puppy from the side of the road is not an act of kindness, it perpetuates the cycle of animal cruelty.”
The hot spots where the puppies are being sold include Dorp Street, Stellenbosch student campuses, Die Neelsie, Welgevonden traffic lights and Stellenbosch town centre.
She said because of the poor condition of many of the younger puppies, it was assumed they were being bred by corrupt breeders.
“If the public are offered a pedigree puppy there is every likelihood it is stolen.”
Lorna Hughes, the AWSS general manager, said the society had seen many puppies with docked tails.
Several of the puppies handed over to the society were far too young to be separated from their mothers.
This made them susceptible to potentially fatal diseases such as parvovirus, which is a highly contagious canine viral disease.
“The puppies are usually in a bad condition when they are brought to us,” she said.
Hughes said the organisation had been trying to generate an awareness of the illegal puppy trade in and around Stellenbosch by approaching media outlets.