Animal lovers launch hunt for 'dog seller' who allegedly mutilates puppies

This puppy, named Flip Flop, was rescued from a seller in Cape Town CBD. The puppy's one hind paw is injured. Pic: Facebook

This puppy, named Flip Flop, was rescued from a seller in Cape Town CBD. The puppy's one hind paw is injured. Pic: Facebook

Published Feb 23, 2019

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Cape Town - Animal lovers have launched a city-wide search for a man who is allegedly selling puppies which he mutilates in order to get sympathy from potential customers.

A Facebook post offering a reward to anyone who finds the man went viral yesterday, garnering well over 1000 shares in less than 24 hours.

The reward offering began with one woman putting up R500 of her cash - but many others offered to add their contributions, and within hours the reward increased to R5000.

Commenters were outraged when it appeared the man had cut off a puppy’s paw in order to attract sympathy and solicit a sale.

Devon, who did not want his surname to be published out of safety concerns, helped rescue a mutilated puppy from the man on Thursday night. He received a call from his girlfriend, who works in Bree Street, saying there was a man selling a dog which desperately needed to get to a vet.

By the time he arrived, his girlfriend had the puppy and the seller had disappeared.

The puppy’s one hind foot was missing, leaving behind a raw stump.

“I took the dog to the vet, where they checked the stump out,” Devon said. “The vet said it’s either been chopped off or eaten by rats.

“I believe (the seller) cut it off for sympathy, so that people would buy it.”

The seller claimed that puppy’s foot was damaged by a car.

“The guy said he paid R1000 to get it fixed,” Devon said.

“So he said he wanted R600 back for the dog and eventually they negotiated down to R200.”

It’s any animal lover’s instinct to try remove a dog which has been maimed, but rescuing or buying animals in this situation does more harm than good, said Cape of Good Hope SPCA chief executive Mqabuko Ndukwana.

“We want the public to be aware of this,” he said. “If there’s a demand, then there will be a supply. By buying those animals, you are not saving the animal; you are perpetuating the cruelty. You are bringing more animals into the same cycle.”

Ndukwana urged the public to rather contact law enforcement immediately so that due legal process could be followed. He said the SPCA has been investigating this particular individual for three years and had laid charges against him for other incidents in the past.

“He was in prison, he spent six months in Pollsmoor and he only came out now,” Ndukwana said.

He also warned against zealous animal lovers making threats of physical violence towards the seller over Facebook, and warned against taking matters into their own hands.

“As the SPCA we are not going to support vigilante justice. Call law enforcement and let the matter be dealt with.”

Weekend Argus

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