Animal Anti-Cruelty League calls for jail terms after dog killing

Two Kleinskool men facing animal cruelty charges allegedly tortured Meisie, a crossbred female dog snatched from her owner’s yard, before crushing her skull and hanging her body from a pole.

In her two decades of experience in rescue with the Animal Anti-Cruelty League, Bay inspector Beverly Rademeyer said this was one of the most horrendous cases of animal abuse she had ever dealt with.

So much so that Rademeyer had to undergo counselling.

The league had been sent graphic footage of the dog being tortured to death while bystanders — mostly young children — pleaded with two men to stop.

Two suspects, both in their 40s, appeared in the Gelvandale Magistrate’s Court last week in connection with the grisly attack.

They face 20 counts under the Animal Protection Act 71 of 1962.

League spokesperson LindaLouise Swain said the league hoped that, should the suspects be found guilty, terms of direct imprisonment would be handed down and not a mere slap on the wrist as punishment.

Rademeyer said: “They [allegedly] beat her repeatedly and crushed her skull so why still take her body and hang it?

“Why would they do such a horrendous thing?

“I want to believe [Meisie] was already dead when they [allegedly] hanged her and I don’t want to think about it too much.”

The league received the video clip in July.

According to the footage, the dog was strung up, strangled, and repeatedly beaten with a metal garden hoe.

She was beaten so severely the wooden stick broke.

The dog’s apparent crime? Chasing goats in the road.

The suspects allegedly removed the dog from its yard and dragged it to a nearby field.

Rademeyer said the beating continued in full view of residents, mostly children, who tried to intervene without success.

“Even with more than 20 years’ experience of animal cruelty and neglect, this case left me severely traumatised,” she said.

“Once you have seen the footage, the images of that helpless dog repeat over and over in your mind.

“As I picked up Meisie’s brutalised carcass, I promised her that though this was the end of her life, it was not the end of our fight for her.”

League volunteer Karien van Schalkwyk said they had compiled a comprehensive docket and handed it over to the police and the National Prosecuting Authority.

“We trust that this will assist the state to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, all 20 counts reported in terms of the Animal Protection Act,” Van Schalkwyk said.

The men are due back in court on May 12.

They are out on bail.

‘They [allegedly] beat her repeatedly and crushed her skull so why still take her body and hang it? Why would they do such a horrendous thing?’