Durban - A prized pregnant Arabian horse that had been grazing on a farm north of Durban was electrocuted by an illegal cable connection.
The 3½-year-old pure breed, Sidi Habiiba, is believed to have touched a live electrical wire placed there by power thieves.
It was found dead at a horse breeding farm, Baraka Arabians, in Hazelmere earlier this month, said owner and horse breeder, Ahmed Haffajee.
The decomposing carcass had been lying in the open field for nearly a week because the owner and staff were too afraid to touch it, fearing they might also get electrocuted. The eThekwini Municipality later removed the carcass.
Sidi Habiiba was last seen alive on April 12 when she had been grazing with another horse in the field.
Their handler went to retrieve them from the field that afternoon. However, neither horse could be located.
“The search was abandoned and resumed the next morning,” Haffajee said.
The second horse was found the next morning, alive and well. Haffajee said the handlers then searched other fields where the horses grazed.
“They found her lying on the ground. The pregnant mare was suspected to have been electrocuted. She was lying next to an exposed electricity cable,” he said. “She could have been dead for 24 hours.
“Due to the excessive weight and the danger of the exposed cables, it was decided, by a vet, to leave Habiiba’s carcass in the field and let nature take its course.”
Haffajee said he had not wanted to risk the lives of his staff to try and lift the horse.
Worth more than R65 000, Habiiba was bought when she was 18 months old.
She was being trained to compete in endurance racing.
The loss has left Haffajee, who has kept horses since his youth, distraught.
“It was a rare breed and… is not easily replaceable… She was the queen of my farm – economically and emotionally hard to replace,” he said.
He said he had lost another horse in similar circumstances four years ago and since the last incident had kept his horses in smaller camps.
Haffajee is waiting for the eThekwini Municipality to disconnect the cables.
Prem Balram, spokesman for security company, Reaction Unit South Africa, said the area where the horse died was inaccessible by vehicle.
The path leading there was rarely used, said municipality spokeswoman, Tozi Mthethwa.
“The existing pathway seems to be purely for accessing the illegal cable route created by the illegal connectors. The illegal cables, which were discovered after the horse was electrocuted, had not been reported before because they are out of sight,” she said.
“Cables were removed in the vicinity.”
Mthethwa said the city planned to remove all illegal connections in the area.
However, the whole area would have to be disconnected so that electricians could walk through the bush to remove the illegal wires safely.
Daily News