Four horses were removed from a Grassy Park home on Wednesday.
- SPCA officials were allegedly assaulted by an owner in Grassy Park, Cape Town, while cracking down on illegal horse training.
- The “smelly dirty” house where the incident occurred was used to illegally train four saddle horses.
- A court order was obtained to remove the animals.
A team of inspectors from the Cape of Good Hope SPCA were allegedly physically assaulted by a 60-year-old owner while trying to remove four saddle horses at a “smelly” property in Grassy Park, Cape Town, on Wednesday.
“Horses were allegedly kept in poor living conditions and forced to drink dirty water,” SPCA spokesman Jaco Pieterse said.
He said the SPCA received a complaint about horses being kept in poor living conditions on the property.
According to him, they also received reports of a strong smell of ammonia in the air and flies throughout the property due to poor living conditions.
He said it prompted SPCA inspectors to immediately launch an investigation.
Pieterse said:
Upon arrival at the Grassy Park property, the owner denied our inspectors access and insisted that the inspectors return with a warrant. This left our inspectors with no choice but to approach Wynberg Magistrates Court for an order in terms of the Animal Welfare Act 71 of 1962, read in conjunction with Regulation 468, to gain access to property to investigate.
The SPCA obtained a court order and inspectors returned to the property with police officers and the Cape Town Law Enforcement Animal Control Unit.
“When our inspectors arrived at the property, a woman was on the front property and insisted that the team wait out front while she called the owner. We were not comfortable with this arrangement and followed the woman onto the property, when she woman entered the property from behind to inform the owner that the SPCA was there,” Pieterse added.
According to the organization, the owner of the house was not happy with the presence of the SPCA on his property, especially while they were busy training one of their horses “using a cruel and archaic training method.”
“One of the Saddle Horse stallions was found restrained. His head had been forced down onto his chest, and his neck forced into a hyperflexed arched arc and then tied up in this unnatural position.”
Pieterse added:
Taut lengths of rope, tied from his bridle, through his bit and to a roller, ensured that the poor animal could neither raise nor lower his head nor move it anywhere to get even the slightest respite from this muscular torture or pain in the neck. mouth. The horse had been subjected to this suffering for a long period of time.
The animal was drenched in sweat and its veins and blood vessels were swollen with exertion. A thick white foam covered the mouth and the entire nose of the horse. His eyes were wild, the SPCA said. His strongly tense facial muscles spoke volumes of his “extreme state of distress”.
“One of the handlers quickly tried to untie the rope to prevent our inspectors from getting photos and videos of the cruel training method being applied. Our inspectors quickly intercepted and managed to gather evidence for criminal prosecution,” the SPCA added.
“The horses only had access to dirty drinking water, and the living conditions were dirty and unsanitary. There was a strong smell of ammonia in the air. It was dark inside the so-called stables, with little or no ventilation.
“This torture technique involves the forceful and aggressive excessive flexion of the horse’s neck, with the effect of forcing the horse into an artificial contour demanded by competing saddle horses and holding it in that position for long periods. This is beyond cruelty,” he said. Pieterse.
If used routinely, this torture technique has been known to cause muscle tears, bone spurs, and spinal degeneration due to the vertebrae being forced into an abnormal position.
Pieterse said:
The owner was very hostile and yelled at us continuously. SAPS members had to step in to try and defuse the situation continuously.
“When our inspectors informed the owner that his horses would be confiscated, the owner became violent and hit [one of our inspectors] with a fist and pushed him out of the way, preventing him and the team from carrying out their duties. The police intervened immediately.
“The owner was arrested and our inspectors filed official criminal charges in terms of the Animal Welfare Act, obstruction and other assault charges. The owner would make his first appearance in Wynberg Magistrate Court later in the week.”
Western Cape Police spokesman Joseph Swartbooi confirmed that police officers accompanied SPCA inspectors to the house with a warrant.
“A 60-year-old man has been arrested and detained on charges of mistreatment and torture… of horses. Once charged, the suspect will appear before Wynberg Magistrate Court,” Swartbooi added.
