Dog survives after being ‘shot by cops’

Cape Town-27/05/2012-the police raided a community in Francis Crescent in Tafelsig Mitchells Plain and started shooting in the community,a dog was shot through the snout by police, while the dog was tied to a chain, and where the dog laid bleeding Picture:Brendan Magaar. Reporter:Mandi Tshwete

Cape Town-27/05/2012-the police raided a community in Francis Crescent in Tafelsig Mitchells Plain and started shooting in the community,a dog was shot through the snout by police, while the dog was tied to a chain, and where the dog laid bleeding Picture:Brendan Magaar. Reporter:Mandi Tshwete

Published May 28, 2012

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Meet Bones – the bulletproof doggy who survived despite being shot in the snout, allegedly by the cops.

The pitiful pup was critically injured after police swooped on a house in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The dog’s owner Zeeta Groen, 27, says she was asleep when she was suddenly awoken by the sound of gunfire.

At first, Zeeta and her husband Berin Groen, 31, thought it must be gangsters shooting.

But when they went to have a look, they said they saw an army of cops outside in the road.

“There were about 30 vans barricading the street,” Zeeta says.

Zeeta and Berin then ran back inside the house.

But the cops followed them, believing them to be suspects who had fired at them earlier.

Zeeta claims the officers kicked down their gate and that a number of shots were fired in the chaos.

One of the bullets hit Bones, who had been sleeping in the yard before the commotion.

“I heard him bark then shortly afterwards a gunshot went off,” Zeeta tells the Daily Voice.

“Bones went quiet after that and went underneath the stoep to lay.

“I thought he was dead but he survived the attack.”

The bullet penetrated Bones’ snout and came out his neck.

“He could have died from the bullet,” Zeeta adds.

“He disappeared for quite a while and I was convinced he was dead, but we found Bones hiding in the backyard.”

Berin also alleges the cops attacked him after wrongly thinking he was a suspect who had shot at them.

“After shooting Bones, they came and dragged me out of the house and beat me up and they opened fire at me, but they missed me and the bullet went through my jeans,” he says.

“They accused me of shooting at them, but I just woke up when I heard gunshots.”

Zeeta, who is three months pregnant, also claims the cops roughed her up when she tried to tell the police that she had been at home with her husband when the shooting happened.

Police confirm a shooting involving “two officers” and “two unknown suspects” at the same address early yesterday.

But police spokesman Warrant Officer November Filander says the officers were shot at first.

“At 2am, police members were fixing a flat tyre in Tafelberg Road, Tafelsig,” Filander says.

“It is alleged the members then noticed two unknown suspects coming out of a known drug house and they tried to stop the suspects.

“The suspects opened fire on the members and the members returned fire, but the suspects managed to flee in an unknown vehicle. No one was injured and an attempted murder docket was opened.”

When asked about the allegations of police brutality, Filander adds: “If the complainants felt that they were mistreated by police, they can make an appointment to speak with the local station commander or open a criminal case.”

*This article was published in the Daily Voice

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