The community of Vhurivhuri, outside Thohoyandou, woke up on Monday morning (28 August) to the grisly find of the carcasses of more than 20 dogs that had mysteriously died in their village.
According to Vhakoma Joseph Mmbengwa, the dogs were poisoned and killed sometime during the previous evening. He said the community had been left in shock, with many questions. "Who in their right mind poisons dogs? We don't know who is doing this, and why, but we now also fear that this person, or people, may end up poisoning our water tanks. We have not reported this matter to the police yet, as we plan on sitting down as a community to try and find a solution to this problem," he said.
A local farmer from the area, Mr Itani Makuya, whose dog was also poisoned, said he was deeply saddened and could not understand why they would have killed his dog. "Some people are just heartless. Dogs were found dead in the street, others at their owner's houses. It is not the first time this has happened, but they usually don't kill this many dogs at a time. About three years ago, someone killed more than 70 of my indigenous chickens and another dog of mine. At this point, we are hesitant to go to the police. We know who did this but we don't have proof, so we are afraid to point fingers."
Makuya said he had been very fond of his dog. "My dog used to guard monkeys on my farm. We were very close. I feel like I have lost a family member," he said.
Mr Lawrence Khodobo, senior inspector at the SPCA in Louis Trichardt, advised residents of Vhurivhuri to go to the police and open a case. "They should also take the dogs to the vet, so that they can do a postmortem, which will determine the cause of death. It will also help the police with their investigations. I am sure that there is some kind of motive behind this. Poisoning someone's pets or animals is a criminal offense. You can go to jail for 12 months or be issued with a fine of up to R40,000," he said.