Cape Town - The Cape of Good Hope (CoGH) SPCA has rescued an eight-year-old dog that was starved to the brink of death, tied to a street pole and abandoned in Belmont Park, Kraaifontein.
The rescue followed an emergency call from a resident about an emaciated dog named Ruff.
Officer Mthunzi Kunene had rushed to the area, however was initially blocked from getting to the dog, according to CoGH SPCA spokesperson Belinda Abraham.
Abraham said two parked vehicles with six ladies surrounded the dog, along with numerous children, making it impossible for Kunene to perform his duties.
“One of the ladies approached Officer Kunene and instructed him that they will in fact, be taking the dog as they believe that the SPCA will simply euthanise the dog – all of this was happening before he was even able to get out of his vehicle,” she said.
Another lady then approached Kunene and proceeded shouting at him.
“At this point, Kunene was surrounded by two other parked vehicles with six ladies around the dog, along with numerous children from the area too.
“Unable to physically reach Ruff, Officer Kunene was obstructed from performing his duties and to attend to the dog,” she said.
“Not giving up on Ruff, Officer Kunene followed the ladies to a private veterinary practice in Bellville, while waiting for back up from inspector Jeffrey Mfini to take over and remove the dog to enable the SPCA to continue with the investigation of animal cruelty.
“Inspector Jeffery Mfini arrived in Bellville at the private veterinary practice where the ladies persisted that they would continue to refuse to hand Ruff over to the SPCA.
“Only when the SPCA inspector threatened legal action, was Ruff handed over into the care of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.”
Ruff was taken to the Panorama Veterinary Clinic for veterinary examination and treatment.
Abraham said he was found to have severe muscle loss with severe hair loss (alopecia), skin thickening (lichenification), itching (pruritis) and skin wounds, all of which were consistent with a chronic skin condition.
A skin scrape has also confirmed that Ruff has severe sarcoptic mange.
“Now, Ruff’s scars are healing. His lifetime of torture is over. We did everything in our power to help him make a full recovery and find him a loving home. We were thrilled when Ruff finally got the happy ending he deserved,” Abraham said.
Cape Times