GEORGE NEWS - When Garden Route SPCA inspector Gerda Reynders received a call from the Fire Department at 21:00 last Tuesday 17 April, informing her that a cow had been hit by a vehicle in Thembalethu, she never expected to be met by a crowd of people at the ready to hack off their own piece of meat.
On arrival she found the cow, badly injured but still alive, surrounded by about 30 people carrying buckets, knives and pangas.
Moses Mongo from the Thembalethu Fire Department assisted her by trying to control the crowd as she assessed the injuries of the cow. Both its left front and back right legs were severely fractured. The crowd was yelling, "Shoot it, shoot it".
Reynders knew she had to put the animal down compassionately due to the extent of its injuries. Little did she know that the frenzied throng would not allow this.
Reynders started what is considered the most humane method of euthanising a large animal.
The muzzle of a captive-bolt pistol, loaded with a blank cartridge, is pressed firmly against the front of the skull and fired.
Once the animal has been successfully stunned, its head is pulled back. Using a sharp, appropriately-sized knife, the throat is cut, severing the carotid arteries and jugular vein. This causes rapid blood loss and consequent quick death. The cut is made within 60 seconds of the shot of the bolt while the animal is unconscious.
Before she could cut the cow's neck, the bloodthirsty crowd forcibly pushed her out of the way and started slashing off chunks of the live cow's flesh.
"One man hacked off a whole leg and shoulder and ran off with it held above his head like a prize winner," said the shaken inspector.
Reynders tried her best to complete her job but was advised by Mongo to get into her vehicle and leave the scene for her own safety. She was left severely traumatised by the horrific incident and the fact that she could not carry out her duty to put the animal out of its misery in accordance with SPCA requirements.
The SPCA is opposed to the slaughter of any animals unless they are instantaneously killed, or rendered immediately unconscious and insensible to pain prior to the throat being cut.
They advocate that farm animals that have to be slaughtered in an emergency, should be humanely and promptly destroyed on site.
Article: Wendy Jones, Garden Route SPCA volunteer
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
