Some community members are outraged at the way they say the East London SPCA euthanised three emaciated, tick-infested and severely injured horses on a smallholding.
The Dispatch has seen the SPCA’s photographs of the emaciated horses that showed shocking tick infestation and gaping wounds, some of which were crawling with large white maggots.
The underside of one horse’s jaw and throat was torn open with the exposed raw, maggot-riddled flesh bubbling out.
The SPCA says it followed all humane and legal protocols and euthanised the animals on Thursday after consulting a vet about their shocking injuries and condition.
The gruesome saga included an alleged assault by the horses’ owner of an SPCA employee while he was first checking on the horses and a subsequent alleged death threat against the SPCA’s general manager Ian Lombard.
Community activist Amanda Timms has been vociferous on various community groups, saying the horses were being treated with purple spray by a neighbour and should not have been euthanised in the first place.
However, Lombard said gentian violet spray was used as a mild antiseptic for minor abrasions on animals and would not have in any way healed the horses’ “stinking, rotten open wounds”.
While Timms concedes their condition was terrible, she believes they could have been saved.
She has also taken to various community groups to describe how the horses were shot and their throats cut by the SPCA.
She said one horse had to be shot four times before it died.
But Lombard said the organisation’s staff had followed the legal protocols and humane procedures required.
The saga began when the SPCA received a call earlier in the week about the poor condition of the horses on the plot outside East London.
When they had found the three horses in shocking condition, they left a notice for the owner to comply and provide proof of medical treatment by a vet.
When the SPCA field officer and training inspector returned on Wednesday, it was clear that no vet had come to treat the horses, whose infected wounds were still crawling with maggots.
“While my field officer was calling me on his cellphone, the owner of the horses assaulted him,” Lombard said.
He said an assault case had been opened at the SAPS Vincent branch.
A vet consulted by the SPCA said the horses were way beyond being treated or saved, Lombard said.
“The vet confirmed that it was better to humanely put the horses to sleep.”
Lombard said the SPCA had obtained a warrant from a local magistrate to access the property on Thursday, and with the police accompanying them, had humanely euthanised the animals.
He explained that the SPCA followed the widely accepted method of using a captive bolt gun, to the head, to euthanise big farm animals.
After this, it was standard practice to sever the jugular vein to ensure death. The animals would have felt nothing.
In the case of one horse, he said it had jerked its head as the bolt gun was fired. They had then used a police rifle to put it to sleep.
“That was the third shot people heard. None of the horses suffered and no members of the public were present when this was done.”
He said the SPCA aimed to lay criminal charges with the police against the horses’ owner in terms of the Animal Protection Act “for failing to render medical attention, for starving the horses, for not taking the necessary steps to stop the unnecessary suffering of the horses”.
If found guilty, the owner could face a hefty fine and an order prohibiting him/her from owning animals for a specific period of time.
The community has also expressed outrage that the SPCA had not disposed of the horses’ carcasses.
But Lombard said the zoo, which usually collected carcasses, could not access the plot’s boggy terrain to remove the animals’ bodies.
He said while there was no obligation on the SPCA to do so, it would bury the horses on Friday as a courtesy to the community.
National Council of SPCAs CEO Marcelle Meredith said using a captive bolt gun was commonly used to euthanise big farm animals in a humane way.
DispatchLIVE
Suffering horses could not be saved, says SPCA
Starving, maggot-infested animals euthanised humanely, organisation says in response to outcry
Image: SUPPLIED
Some community members are outraged at the way they say the East London SPCA euthanised three emaciated, tick-infested and severely injured horses on a smallholding.
The Dispatch has seen the SPCA’s photographs of the emaciated horses that showed shocking tick infestation and gaping wounds, some of which were crawling with large white maggots.
The underside of one horse’s jaw and throat was torn open with the exposed raw, maggot-riddled flesh bubbling out.
The SPCA says it followed all humane and legal protocols and euthanised the animals on Thursday after consulting a vet about their shocking injuries and condition.
The gruesome saga included an alleged assault by the horses’ owner of an SPCA employee while he was first checking on the horses and a subsequent alleged death threat against the SPCA’s general manager Ian Lombard.
Community activist Amanda Timms has been vociferous on various community groups, saying the horses were being treated with purple spray by a neighbour and should not have been euthanised in the first place.
However, Lombard said gentian violet spray was used as a mild antiseptic for minor abrasions on animals and would not have in any way healed the horses’ “stinking, rotten open wounds”.
While Timms concedes their condition was terrible, she believes they could have been saved.
She has also taken to various community groups to describe how the horses were shot and their throats cut by the SPCA.
She said one horse had to be shot four times before it died.
But Lombard said the organisation’s staff had followed the legal protocols and humane procedures required.
The saga began when the SPCA received a call earlier in the week about the poor condition of the horses on the plot outside East London.
When they had found the three horses in shocking condition, they left a notice for the owner to comply and provide proof of medical treatment by a vet.
When the SPCA field officer and training inspector returned on Wednesday, it was clear that no vet had come to treat the horses, whose infected wounds were still crawling with maggots.
“While my field officer was calling me on his cellphone, the owner of the horses assaulted him,” Lombard said.
He said an assault case had been opened at the SAPS Vincent branch.
A vet consulted by the SPCA said the horses were way beyond being treated or saved, Lombard said.
“The vet confirmed that it was better to humanely put the horses to sleep.”
Lombard said the SPCA had obtained a warrant from a local magistrate to access the property on Thursday, and with the police accompanying them, had humanely euthanised the animals.
He explained that the SPCA followed the widely accepted method of using a captive bolt gun, to the head, to euthanise big farm animals.
After this, it was standard practice to sever the jugular vein to ensure death. The animals would have felt nothing.
In the case of one horse, he said it had jerked its head as the bolt gun was fired. They had then used a police rifle to put it to sleep.
“That was the third shot people heard. None of the horses suffered and no members of the public were present when this was done.”
He said the SPCA aimed to lay criminal charges with the police against the horses’ owner in terms of the Animal Protection Act “for failing to render medical attention, for starving the horses, for not taking the necessary steps to stop the unnecessary suffering of the horses”.
If found guilty, the owner could face a hefty fine and an order prohibiting him/her from owning animals for a specific period of time.
The community has also expressed outrage that the SPCA had not disposed of the horses’ carcasses.
But Lombard said the zoo, which usually collected carcasses, could not access the plot’s boggy terrain to remove the animals’ bodies.
He said while there was no obligation on the SPCA to do so, it would bury the horses on Friday as a courtesy to the community.
National Council of SPCAs CEO Marcelle Meredith said using a captive bolt gun was commonly used to euthanise big farm animals in a humane way.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos