Ignorance is a major cause of animal abuse

Are you thinking of getting a new pet? Before you do, familiarise yourself with the cost and time to keep, feed and exercise the animal, to obtain veterinary services such as sterilisation and legal requirements such as permits for keeping exotic animals.

This is the message from vets and the Potchefstroom Animal Welfare Service (PAWS), who say that ignorance is a major cause for the animal cruelty complaints they receive on a weekly basis. 

According to the Animal Welfare Institute, a non-profit organisation, animal cruelty involves gratuitously inflicting harm, injuring, or killing an animal. The cruelty can be intentional, such as kicking, burning, stabbing, beating or shooting; or it can involve neglect, such as depriving an animal of water, shelter, food and necessary medical treatment.

According to PAWS it receives complaints about the abuse of pets at least two times per week. 

People often use their dogs for hunting and fighting and then bring them to PAWS for injuries such as broken bones and wounds. Some animal owners will remove an animal’s ear or tail for cosmetic purposes, unaware that their actions are illegal. 

PAWS also get involved with cases involving animals such as iguana’s, wolves, hedgehogs, turtles and exotic snakes which are not taken care of properly. 

“Ignorance is the number one cause of danger for you and your pet’s health,” said Herman van der Sluis, PAWS manager.

Ignorance leads to animals being kept in small areas and farm animals being kept in residential areas  – which can lead to transferable diseases spreading to other animals as well as parasites that can spread to humans. 

Anja Joubert-De Lange, a veterinarian at Moregloed Veterinary, confirms that the practice receives complaints about abuse on a weekly basis and that ignorance is a problem.  

“A large number of people brought their pets for adoption during the lockdown, for they could no longer afford to take care of them.” 

Unfortunately, animal abuse emanating from ignorance also extends to so called exotic animals. 

Owners of these animals require a permit and they have to keep and transport the animals according to strict guidelines. 

Trevor Oertel, a falconer for the past 52 years, said permits are needed for each falcon you keep. In South Africa it is a legal requirement to join a falconry club or association before getting a permit.

Falconers employ the services of hunting dogs to find, point and flush out prey such as rabbits.

Therefore, the beginner falconer must be aware of the time and expense involved in housing, equipping, feeding, training and vetting these hunting dogs in order to prevent neglect.

In case of falconers who don’t have a permit for a falcon, they can be prosecuted, including jail time, a fine and the falcon would be confiscated. 

Anyone in breach of the anti-cruelty provision of section 2 of the Animal Protection Act 1962 is punishable with fines, imprisonment, confiscation, and a ban on future animal ownership.  – Clarissa Vosloo, Lana van Zyl, Deo-Done Gous, Karmi Penberthy