Stray cattle prove a major headache for police station
‘Not equipped’ to keep roaming herds
PORT Alfred police rounded up and temporarily impounded 24 stray cattle that were wandering along Albany Road on Sunday night, but getting them to the pound in Alexandria was another challenge.
Police complained that they had no suitable place to place the cattle, and that they were not in a position to feed or even water the animals.
Police spokeswoman Captain Mali Govender admitted that the animals were a problem for the police.
“We do not have the facilities required to keep these animals in a suitable way. We need the municipality to take control of the system for transporting and impounding the animals,” she said.
As far as could be seen, none of the impounded cattle had any identifying marks, either tags or any form of branding, thereby making the job of identifying the owners practically impossible.
However, Govender said that the owners had come to the station to collect their cattle. She did not know if fines had been issued, but officers at the station on Monday said owners would be issued with substantial fines.
Municipal spokesman Cecil Mbolekwa said that the municipality was currently in the process of formulating a tagging policy.
“As you may be aware, there is currently litigation against the municipality, brought by AgriEC and others. An order was granted which allowed the municipality a certain period of time, in which all livestock must be tagged. As a municipality we are within that period.
“Cattle are transported by means of a municipal truck to the municipal pound in Alexandria.
“The by-law relating to impoundment of animals, paragraph 3 states that, ‘any person may impound an animal found abandoned upon his property or any street, road, road reserve or other public place’,” Mbolekwa said.