Roger the missing bull terrier shook up social media when his distraught owners put out desperate appeals for his return, only to hear he’d been stolen and killed by a dog fighting ring near King William’s Town.
The incident has put a spotlight on dog theft and illegal dog fighting in the area, with SPCA East London and King William’s Town chairwoman Annette Rademeyer saying it was widespread, with breeds like pitbull, Staffordshire and other terrier breeds being targeted.
“These breeds have fierce reputations even though they are not fierce by nature,” said Rademeyer.
Stolen pets were used as “bait” dogs and died a brutal death, she added. “They chain them, tape their mouths shut so they can’t defend themselves and set their dogs on them to bring out their blood lust. They are ripped apart.”
Sunnyridge resident Sumi de Kock, 21, who owned Roger, said her beloved pet “vanished into thin air” from her home on April 14. “When I went to feed him at 6pm, he was not in the yard,” said De Kock, who referred to Roger as her “baby” who slept with her at night.
She spotted unfamiliar footprints in her yard, a walled property.
She and her family and friends embarked on a widespread search and posted widely circulated social media appeals for his safe return.
“We turned into every corner and I would scream his name. We paid people to show his
photo everywhere.”
De Kock said the family even turned to a Johannesburg-based “dog whisperer” for help and were told he was no longer alive. Her worst fears were realised when a policeman found a way to scan Roger’s microchip and contacted her to say he was dead.
“He said he had been killed by a pitbull in Breidbach and his body was found under a black bag at a dumpsite in King William’s Town. At least I know he is no longer suffering.”
King William’s Town police spokeswoman Lieutenant Siphokazi Mawisa said there had never been a complaint of illegal dog fighting in the area.
Rademeyer said although the SPCA was aware of illegal dog fighting events in Breidbach and Zwelitsha, it was only possible to prosecute perpetrators if they were caught “red-handed”.
“If we are tipped off and go there, there will be nothing because the venue will have been changed. It’s a scourge.”
She said there were three “levels” in the South African dog fighting underworld.
The first one involved boys of as young as nine who pitted their dogs against each other; a middle level that groomed youngsters to become involved by pitting children to fight each other, and the top and most organised level involving businessmen, professional people and “big money”.
East London resident Paige Spencer of the Marley Foundation, which organised the Marley’s Pitbull awareness walk last year and is vehemently opposed to dog fighting, said all breeds were “going missing from their yards” and that children were offered R50 to steal dogs.
Pet stolen, torn apart as ‘bait’
The incident has put a spotlight on dog theft and illegal dog fighting in the area, with SPCA East London and King William’s Town chairwoman Annette Rademeyer saying it was widespread, with breeds like pitbull, Staffordshire and other terrier breeds being targeted.
“These breeds have fierce reputations even though they are not fierce by nature,” said Rademeyer.
Stolen pets were used as “bait” dogs and died a brutal death, she added. “They chain them, tape their mouths shut so they can’t defend themselves and set their dogs on them to bring out their blood lust. They are ripped apart.”
Sunnyridge resident Sumi de Kock, 21, who owned Roger, said her beloved pet “vanished into thin air” from her home on April 14. “When I went to feed him at 6pm, he was not in the yard,” said De Kock, who referred to Roger as her “baby” who slept with her at night.
She spotted unfamiliar footprints in her yard, a walled property.
She and her family and friends embarked on a widespread search and posted widely circulated social media appeals for his safe return.
“We turned into every corner and I would scream his name. We paid people to show his
photo everywhere.”
De Kock said the family even turned to a Johannesburg-based “dog whisperer” for help and were told he was no longer alive. Her worst fears were realised when a policeman found a way to scan Roger’s microchip and contacted her to say he was dead.
“He said he had been killed by a pitbull in Breidbach and his body was found under a black bag at a dumpsite in King William’s Town. At least I know he is no longer suffering.”
King William’s Town police spokeswoman Lieutenant Siphokazi Mawisa said there had never been a complaint of illegal dog fighting in the area.
Rademeyer said although the SPCA was aware of illegal dog fighting events in Breidbach and Zwelitsha, it was only possible to prosecute perpetrators if they were caught “red-handed”.
“If we are tipped off and go there, there will be nothing because the venue will have been changed. It’s a scourge.”
She said there were three “levels” in the South African dog fighting underworld.
The first one involved boys of as young as nine who pitted their dogs against each other; a middle level that groomed youngsters to become involved by pitting children to fight each other, and the top and most organised level involving businessmen, professional people and “big money”.
East London resident Paige Spencer of the Marley Foundation, which organised the Marley’s Pitbull awareness walk last year and is vehemently opposed to dog fighting, said all breeds were “going missing from their yards” and that children were offered R50 to steal dogs.
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