Pets 'shot dead' with rifles

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xrapidx

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http://www.news24.com/Content/South...2/13-01-2010-10-00/Pets_shot_dead_with_rifles

Pretoria - Children on a smallholding outside Pretoria apparently had to watch in tears when their pet cats and dog were shot and killed with .22 rifles on Monday morning.

"While the shooting was going on, some of the children ran to the dam, closed their ears and screamed: 'No! No!," says a woman from the Philadelphia Ark smallholding in Kameeldrift West. Apparently her two cats were also shot.

Eight cats, some only three weeks old, and a dog were killed.

"One little boy kept screaming: 'Please, please leave my cat alone!'

"Another child hid behind a tree and cried.

'Gruesome'

"It was one of the most gruesome acts I've ever seen. It wasn't just cruel toward the animals, but also toward the children.

"Grown men and women cried openly," said the woman. She is one of about 50 people who live on the smallholding.

Each family lives in a wooden house and pay the owner R650 per month.

The shooting came about after Dirk van Vuuren, the owner, had apparently warned the people to hand over their animals so he could take them to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

He's reported to have said that, should they fail to do so before Monday at 10:00, he would put the animals down himself.

"Many people did hand over their animals, but some of the children weren't able to catch their cats."

Van Vuuren and his son, Beyers, and another two people then apparently walked around on the smallholding with their rifles and shot the animals.

Cats taken to SPCA

When asked on Tuesday, Van Vuuren said: "I left one cat and one dog for each family and took 25 other cats to the SPCA."

Thereafter he chased the Beeld team off his property.

Elsa Daniels, spokesperson for the Tshwane SPCA, said a person from the Kameeldrift West area handed 19 cats over to the SPCA's shelter on Monday, but she wasn't able to say whether the cats came from Philadelphia Ark.

According to Rick Allan, managing director of the Tshwane SPCA, they are investigating the allegations.

The police couldn't confirm whether they had been to the smallholding or if they had received a complaint.
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What see you next tuesdays. I hope they get their gun licenses revoked.
 
Opening a can of worms here dude. Expect a lot of angry responses and counterarguments, as was the case with the other animal cruelty threads.
 
what this guy did was terrible, those poor kids !
 
Looks like the property owner didn't put rules in place around how many pets were allowed, and then when it became a problem, decided to just solve it himself. Expecting people to just hand over pets is a bit unrealistic, especially where kids are involved.
 
alf101 said:
Can I get this his guys number?
Neighbour's dog won't shaddup.
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ROFL - I know how that feels - I'm starting to realize why people would shoot their neighbours dog - but at least do it without cruelty.
 
So wait a second, why does he want them taken to the SPCA and why did he shoot them?

Are the animals that got shot or taken to the SPCA well looked after by the residents? I know shooting them was pretty nasty but under what condition did these animals live?

The article does not really make mention of that.
 
killadoob said:
So wait a second, why does he want them taken to the SPCA and why did he shoot them?

Are the animals that got shot or taken to the SPCA well looked after by the residents? I know shooting them was pretty nasty but under what condition did these animals live?

The article does not really make mention of that.
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?? The article's quite clear to me. He's a landlord. He's divided a smallholding so that it has a lot of small homes and is renting them out, so he manages the property, and the people (the article says 50 people live on the smallholding; if we assume 3 per family on average, that's perhaps 15 to 20 families/buildings). The article also says:

When asked on Tuesday, Van Vuuren said: "I left one cat and one dog for each family and took 25 other cats to the SPCA."
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That's a LOT of animals for a setup like that (judging by the rentals and so on, we can infer it's for poor people and probably almost resembles a township), must be between 50 and 100 --- most "proper' complexes won't even allow that many pets, so obviously pets had become a problem, and he instantiated a rule that the number of pets would be limited. Some people didn't abide by the rules and didn't hand in their animals, so he obviously took it upon himself to 'enforce the rules' in a rather extreme and probably illegal way. It is his property, so short of violating anyone's fundamental rights he can actually set the rules; if you don't like your landlord's rules it's more or less up to you to either re-negotiate, abide or move out (which is generally a good thing, as any renter may later become a property owner too --- i.e. his rights are your rights - it's too easy to otherwise get swept up in 'anti-evil-landlord hysteria').

Discharging a firearm in a "built-up area" without good reason is illegal. Now, "built-up area" is one of the most vague and unclear terms I've ever seen in any piece of legislation surrounding such a highly critical point, but it seems probable to me that a smallholding with 15 or more wooden homes is very likely a 'built up area', which means he needs a 'good reason' (unless it's a very large smallholding with lots of open space still), and I doubt that shooting problem animals would be considered a 'good reason'.

Nod said:
Looks like the property owner didn't put rules in place around how many pets were allowed, and then when it became a problem, decided to just solve it himself
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Um, not exactly, the article states he *did* put a rule in place (albeit quite late), gave the tentants some time to comply, and some tenants refused. If tenants refuse to obey rules, they may actually be in the wrong too (though I suspect shooting their pets may not be legal recourse for non-compliant tenants either).

He allowed each family 'one cat and one dog'; that is more generous than I have in my much higher rental complex with fairly large units with gardens.
 
Last edited:
crimebuster said:
Good he did not kill the animals 'Zuma' styl. Twist their testicles and if they make a noise, smother them to death.
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Dude, what are you trying to pull off here? Animal cruelty is the same no matter who commits the deed.

That was a cheap stunt.
 
What this dude should have done if the people didn't turn the pets over themselves is call the SPCA and let them come and round up the animals - not shoot them himself.
 
This is unacceptable. I hope the law makes an example of him.
 
Dirk van Vuuren's reaction:

http://www.boerevryheid.co.za/forums/showthread.php?p=300955

I've stopped reading news papers a long time ago - there are two sides to every story.

Always.

Ek sal seker maar moet antwoord, aangesien my volksgenote nog steeds verblind bly deur die volk svyandige Beeld met hulle verdraaide en leuenagtige beriggewing. Ja, ek het die volksvreemde joernalis en haar gevolg verwyder, en geweet dat hulle die mes diep sou insteek. Hier volg `n ware verslag van die gebeure. Glo dit of maak wat jy wil.

Persverklaring rakend beweerde mishandeling van katte te plaas Kameeldrif 225 op 13/01/2010
Berigte in Beeld van 13/01/2010 en ander mediaberigte verwys.
Die ware toedrag van sake op die plaas Kameeldrif 225 is as volg:
1. Fialdelfia Ark is `n sorgsentrum vir hawelose 98 mense. Hier woon kinders van so jonk as 2 maande tot ou mense van 73 jaar. Hier woon ook verstandelik gestremde mense, alkoholiste en ander verslaafdes wat wil rehabiliteer.

2. 30% van inwoners is verdieners en pensioenarisse en maak `n bydrae vir akkommodasie met 3 etes per dag.

3. 70% van die inwoners verdien geen buite-inkomste het nie, maar ontvang nogtans sakgeld.

4. Op die plaas is verskeie tipes pluimvee waarmee geboer word, asook `n groot verskeidenheid voëls en watervoëls op die plaas se dam. Alle pluimvee is “vryloop” en eiers en vleis word so vir eie gebruik geproduseer. Kinders speel vrylik op die plaas rond.

5. As gevolg hiervan was troeteldiere aanvanklik nie toegelaat nie. Dit was `n reëling nadat mense in die verlede op die plaas deur honde aangeval was. Selfs klein kinders was gebyt. Na `n 16 maande siekbed het ek na die plaas teruggekeer en gevind dat ons bykans 60 katte en honde op die plaas het en dit in `n area van minder as een hektaar! Ek het die situasie probeer akkommodeer, maar na verloop van `n jaar is feitlik alle hoenders, kuikens, makoue en wilde voëltjies opgevreet deur rondloperdiere wat nie versorg was deur hul eienaars nie. Die diere was honger en moes jag vir oorlewing.

6. Op 7/01/2010 het ek `n vergadering belê en alle inwoners is ingelig dat hulle slegs 1 kat of hond verder toegelaat sal word, mits hulle vir die dier kon sorg. Geleentheid is gegee om ander reëlings te tref, en die oortollige diere moes die volgende oggend ingehandig word vir versending na die DBV.

7. Dit is toe ook so gedoen en sowat 20 katte is na die DBV geneem. Baie katte kon nie eers gevang word nie, en party was so wild dat een persoon inderhaas vir klem-in-die-kaak en hondsdolheid behandel moes word, aangesien hy onmiddellik bloedvergiftiging simptome begin toon het. Die definisie van `n troeteldier is juis `n dier wat hom laat vertroetel, aangesien hy versorg word. Wanneer `n dier nie meer gevang kan word nie, en mense krap en byt, is dit `n rondloper dier en in die geval van `n kat word hy `n roofdier.

8. Dit is so dat baie trane die dag gevloei het, toe ek die katte weggeneem het. Die meeste mense bly egter in 3 x 4 wendie huise. Een het tot 6 diere in hierdie vertrekkie gehad, sonder kos. Baie katte was oortrek van luise en vlooie. Ander was baie siek. As gevolg hiervan is ons wonings nou driekwart besmet. Een persoon het 14 katte gehad! Pasgebore katte is sondermeer onder andere net van hul ma afgevat en vir `n verstandelik gestremde persoon gegee, wat hulle nie kon versorg nie. Bittermin mense kon vir hulle diere kos bekostig, agv die feit dat hulle hawelose mense is.

9. As gevolg van al die bogenoemde feite hierbo, kon ek nie anders optree nie. Geen persoon se troeteldier is geskiet nie. Die gekonfiskeerde diere is na die DBV toe. `n Behoorlike troeteldier sensus is daarna gehou. Elke woning is geïnspekteer vir sanitasiebakke en voerpille. Waarskuwings is gerig dat persone wat versuim om hul diere kos te gee, of die diere te ontluis, se diere na die DBV geneem sal word.

10. Daar is egter talle rondloperdiere op die plaas oor en in `n vergadering met die DBV op 9/01/2010 op terrein is besluit dat die oorblywende troeteldiere, naamlik 11 katte en 16 honde almal gesteriliseer sal word. Vanghokke sal deur die DBV op strategiese plekke geplaas word, sodat hierdie rondloper roofdiere gevang kan word.

11. Die persoon wat die Beeld gekοntak het, is `n buitepersoon wat nie op die plaas woon nie, maar wat haar troeteldier sonder toestemming verniet op die plaas laat rondloop het. Haar dier is nog hier. Haar feite is verdraai en onwaar. Die Beeld se personeel wat op terrein was, het nie die korrekte kanaal gevolg om die eienaar om toestemming te vra om hul saak te ondersoek nie. Dit is waarom hul gevra was om te loop.

Dirk van Vuuren
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Thought so. Like I said if there was shooting he should have shot the people they are the reason it got out of hand. A cat bread cause that is what they do. If you want one you spade it. Dogs, same rule applies.
 
Is Boerevryheid really a unbiased news source? I'll wait for the police/SPCA report.
 
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