Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Animal lovers shopping at the Amajuba Mall on Sunday morning, 23 October 2022, were left fuming after witnessing a man attempting to sell five puppies at the shopping complex’s traffic lights.
The man went as far as to recruit a beggar to help him sell the puppies. However, upon not selling any of the little dogs, the man promptly left the scene, but not before residents took to social media raising their concern about the incident.
The matter was escalated to the Newcastle SPCA, which immediately called on the community to help the organisation track the man down.
Determined to trace the owner, the Newcastle SPCA managed to locate the person on Monday, 24 October 2022. This resulted in the man signing over three of the puppies to the SPCA.
*PAID ADVERTISING
However, the matter did not end there, with the SPCA’s Heather Gero explaining, “We will be treating this as an animal cruelty case. However, as it was not an act of deliberate cruelty, the matter will not be going to court.”
The puppies and their mother were in a poor condition, resulting in the mother being euthanised and one of the puppies passing away due to illness.
While fuming over how animals were treated and sold in the town, Gero explained that this incident was allegedly due to a lack of education and knowledge on the owner’s part.
“He explained that he was not aware that he could not sell the dogs in this manner. We have and will continue to educate him. However, he will not be allowed to own another animal for a period of time,” she emphasised.
Gero further noted that another cause for concern has surfaced from this incident. This being that the local SPCA only found three of the five puppies.
“One of the puppies passed away due to Parvo, and the two others that we have are being treated for Parvo as well,” adding that somewhere in Newcastle there are two puppies with the illness.
“We do not know if the new owners will be taking them to the vet, if they will receive any form of treatment or if they are potentially spreading the Parvo virus,”explained Gero.
Therefore, if anyone purchased the two puppies, Gero is requesting that they seek medical assistance for the young dogs as soon as possible.
On a more positive note, the two puppies in the Newcastle SPCA’s care are currently on the mend and Gero highlighted that once they were fully recovered and received their first inoculations, they would be up for adoption.
If anyone would like to give these two young pups a second chance at life via a loving home, be sure to visit the Newcastle SPCA at 1 Samson Drive, Barry Hertzog Park.
What are your thoughts on the above-mentioned? Share your views in the comment section below.
