Boerboel cruelty caught on video
ALEISHA TISSEN
JOHANNESBURG - Swinging a pick-axe handle as if it were a baseball bat, a well-known member of the Middleburg community is shown on CCTV footage, in The Citizen’s possession, repeatedly striking a boerboel on the head, rendering it unconscious.
The man appeared before the Middleburg Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga yesterday on charges under the Animals Protection Act. He was not asked to plead as there are awaiting documents needed for the docket. The case has been postponed until August 14. He is expected to plead not guilty.
On December 31 last year Ian Lombard of the Middelburg SPCA was contacted by an employee of a nearby business informing him of a “stray, aggressive dog at the premises that had attacked and bitten the wife of the owner of the business”.
Arriving at the alleged dog beater’s office, Lombard found a male boerboel cowering in the corner. He later established the dog had not bitten the man’s wife but had jumped up at her after the man threw sand at the dog and made an attack gesture towards him.
Expecting growls or an indication of attack, Lombard carefully approached the dog. “I approached him with ease, put a lead around his neck and gently walked him out of the office. As soon as he started leaving, he went down on all fours, as he appeared scared,” Lombard said.
The footage clearly shows the man kicking sand at the dog as it urinates on a car tyre, the dog jumping up on the man and his wife and the man looking for a pick handle and bucket, taunting the dog and then hitting it with the handle until the dog collapses.
Once unconscious, the man again hits the dog and then inspects the pick handle for blood before walking away. The dog, in the meantime, has regained consciousness and is seen scampering from the video frame.
. So ja...will see what happens in his court appearance...hope they give a harsh punishment / name and shame. I know the fines etc are pittyful...but hey....maybe there is some good to come of this. At least the dog didnt die.
