3 pellets found in dead baboon

GEORGE NEWS - The person who shot and killed a baboon in Denneoord last week, must have fired at least five shots.

Three air rifle pellets and a piece of shrapnel were found in the body and an eye witness who saw the baboon fall from a tree into the street said he picked up two pellets in the street near where the baboon had fallen.

According to Garden Route SPCA vet Dr Suzanne Muller, X-rays revealed that the pellets were lodged in the chin, stomach wall and chest wall. The damage this caused to the baboon's organs, caused excessive internal bleeding that led to its death.

A senior inspector of the SPCA, Cheri Cooke, said one of the pellets was handed over to the police.

The baboon was shot in Dahlia Street mid-morning on Tuesday 30 July. T

he eye witness, Kevin Woodborne, who was working on the roof of a house nearby, opened a case of animal cruelty and discharging a firearm in a municipal area. Young children were playing in a garden across the street from where the baboon fell.

An update on the progress of the police investigation into the case is being awaited.

On the left is a pellet and on the right a piece of shrapnel.