SPCA ‘superhero’ tracks down PA dog thieves
Manager Lisa Nyanya gives chase after two suspects
The two dogs reported missing from the Port Alfred and Ndlambe District SPCA at the beginning of this month have been found, thanks to manager Lisa Nyanya’s determination, persistence and no-nonsense detection abilities.
Nyanya said finding the two dogs had been a miracle.
The first missing dog was found on Wednesday September 6, when Nyanya received a call from a detective working on the case.
The detective accompanied Nyanya to identify the dog in Nemato, eNdlovini.
The dog was with two young men, who Nyanya spoke to separately, and who told her two different stories.
“One of them insisted he had got the dog from his uncle in iDutywa,” Nyanya said.
“The second man’s version was that he had been making his way home and had seen the dog near Nomzamo Senior Secondary School.
“He insisted the dog had followed him home.”
The police took the two in for questioning, and Nyanya returned with the dog to the SPCA.
“Two days ago, on my way to town, past the bridge, I notice two different men dragging a dog that looked familiar,” Nyanya said.
“I decided to follow them but I had to do so without their knowledge.”
They made their way through the CBD and when they reached a wellknown butchery, they stopped and asked a man selling burgers and boerewors rolls outside the store for food for their dog.
That’s when Nyanya approached them.
“I tried my best to be discreet but unfortunately my uniform gave me away,” Nyanya said.
The men saw her and made a run for it, leaving the dog behind.
Nyanya asked the man at the food stand to look after the dog, while she called the police and ran after the men.
However, they were too fast and managed to get away. Nyanya said she was happy the dogs were found though and back in safe hands.
“Both the dogs are now in the process of being adopted by a family in [Makhanda]. This brings us great joy,” Nyanya told TOTT.
In an earlier incident, three boerboelcross and two border collie-cross puppies, all eight weeks old, were taken from their enclosure at the SPCA in Port Alfred, between closing and opening times on August 23 and 24.
The staff noticed the puppies were missing when doing their rounds.
“We hope to find the five puppies soon,” Nyanya said.
“Thanks to the efforts and hard work of our manager, Lisa Nyanya, both adult dogs that were stolen have been recovered and are back at the SPCA,” SPCA chairperson Bryan Smith said.
“SAPS and Multi Security were also involved and two suspects were arrested.”