A group of emerging farmers who got government funding to start an ostrich project will not be prosecuted for animal cruelty despite dozens of birds starving to death three years ago near Bathurst.
Ndlambe SPCA chair Sandy Birch yesterday said although they understood the reasons behind the Grahamstown directorate of public prosecutions’ (DPP) decision not to prosecute the Hlumani ostrich project or their Eastern Cape department of social development funders they were unhappy animals suffered.
“The DPP were unable to prosecute as they are unable to single out individuals.
“From the local SPCA’s side, we understand that it is a collective failure. However, it is sad that these animals suffered unnecessarily and the culprits have not been taken to task.”
Twenty-five malnourished ostriches were euthanised in a mass SPCA cull on the farm in late 2012 after 14 others were put down over the previous 10 days by a local vet.
Social development spokesman Gcobani Maswana yesterday said the shocking neglect of the ostriches at the Hlumani project had been such an “eye-opener” for the department that they had changed the way they ran projects in the province.
“Since then we have introduced a team of independent assessors, mentors and expertise from the department of agriculture to check up on projects.”
He said the department wanted their projects to be run properly and were now helping with quality control and marketing.
Maswana said there had “been a lot of improvement” in the way they ran projects since the ostrich scandal was reported in the Daily Dispatch in 2012.
The Hlumani project had been warned several times by the SPCA to feed and take better care of their ostriches since they started in 2010 and suffered high mortality rates from the outset.
During visits to the farm 10 days before the SPCA euthanised the birds in 2012, vet Dr Leon de Bruyn had to put down 14 starving ostriches and found 17 more dead birds tangled in fences around the four-hectare enclosure as they desperately tried to get out and find food.
At the time, De Bruyn told the Dispatch the ostriches were so malnourished their muscles had atrophied – indicating they had gone without food for more than six weeks. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
No prosecution after ostriches starve to death
Ndlambe SPCA chair Sandy Birch yesterday said although they understood the reasons behind the Grahamstown directorate of public prosecutions’ (DPP) decision not to prosecute the Hlumani ostrich project or their Eastern Cape department of social development funders they were unhappy animals suffered.
“The DPP were unable to prosecute as they are unable to single out individuals.
“From the local SPCA’s side, we understand that it is a collective failure. However, it is sad that these animals suffered unnecessarily and the culprits have not been taken to task.”
Twenty-five malnourished ostriches were euthanised in a mass SPCA cull on the farm in late 2012 after 14 others were put down over the previous 10 days by a local vet.
Social development spokesman Gcobani Maswana yesterday said the shocking neglect of the ostriches at the Hlumani project had been such an “eye-opener” for the department that they had changed the way they ran projects in the province.
“Since then we have introduced a team of independent assessors, mentors and expertise from the department of agriculture to check up on projects.”
He said the department wanted their projects to be run properly and were now helping with quality control and marketing.
Maswana said there had “been a lot of improvement” in the way they ran projects since the ostrich scandal was reported in the Daily Dispatch in 2012.
The Hlumani project had been warned several times by the SPCA to feed and take better care of their ostriches since they started in 2010 and suffered high mortality rates from the outset.
During visits to the farm 10 days before the SPCA euthanised the birds in 2012, vet Dr Leon de Bruyn had to put down 14 starving ostriches and found 17 more dead birds tangled in fences around the four-hectare enclosure as they desperately tried to get out and find food.
At the time, De Bruyn told the Dispatch the ostriches were so malnourished their muscles had atrophied – indicating they had gone without food for more than six weeks. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
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