Cape Town - A chilling video has emerged of a group of children, some as young as 7, taking huge delight in torturing and then stoning a dog to death.
Several of the children gleefully say: “You are going to die - to die” repeatedly before beginning a drawn-out seven-minute assault on the stray dog who is kicked and hung from a tree before being pelted with rocks and chunks of concrete.
Cape of Good Hope SPCA inspectors have identified the children and criminal charges of animal cruelty have been laid.
Tara McGovern, the spokeswoman for the SPCA, said the incident, which they were made aware of on Friday, happened at a vlei in Manenberg off Vygieskraal Road.
In the video eight children, aged between 7 and 17, are seen dragging a dog by a rope around his neck to a secluded area.
They are accompanied by a pitbull which they try to set on the stray dog while at the same time repeatedly kicking it.
The pitbull attacks a few times but when she doesn’t kill the stray, they hang it from a tree before taking it down and hurling rocks and concrete at the terrified cross-breed.
It is clear to see in the video the force with which the missiles are flung, many at the dog’s head and to hear the frenzied excitement from the children.
In the last image the dog is lying motionless on the ground.
At one stage the boy making the video says, “This is why you must look after your dogs, people.”
Welfare officials point out there is a well-documented link between childhood cruelty to animals and later criminality and violence.
Allan Perrins, the chief executive of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, said when a child shows intentional cruelty towards an animal that is severe and without remorse such as in this case, it should be taken very seriously.
“Animal abuse is very often the first manifestation of serious emotional turmoil that may escalate into extreme violence.
“This is well documented and universally acknowledged.”
Perrins added that the images were not those of young hooligans behaving badly, but rather footage of tomorrow’s killers who, if left unchecked, would almost certainly kill again.
Within hours, SPCA inspectors had identified the children involved in the video as well as the individual recording the incident.
McGovern said a case had been opened at the Manenberg police station while social workers from the Department of Social Development had been contacted to assist with possible rehabilitation.
The dog’s body was later retrieved from the vlei.
She added the video showed the importance of their education programme.
“Humane education can break this cycle of violence and replace it with one of compassion, empathy and personal responsibility.”
Cape Argus