A manhunt has been launched for a puppy seller who sold a three-week-old doggie with an amputated paw in the Cape Town CBD.
A reward of R5 000 was put up by animal lovers after an activist took to Facebook.
The post went viral and has been shared over 1 500 times.
It’s believed the black puppy might be from a Labrador.
Devon, who does not want his surname published for safety concerns, says on Thursday night he received a call from his girlfriend who works in Bree Street, saying there was a man selling an injured dog.
He apparently wanted R600 for the mutilated puppy, and claimed the tiny dog’s hind paw was damaged by a car.
Devon told the Weekend Argus that by the time he got to the CBD, his girlfriend had bought the puppy for R200 and the seller was gone.
STUMP: Little black puppy. Photo: SU PPLIED
They took the dog to a vet.
The animal rights activist later posted the name and photo of the seller on Facebook, asking mense to piemp him to police: “Apparently people will buy a puppy quicker if you chop its leg off first.
“Puppy safely at the vet. Anyone willing and able to catch this bastard will be rewarded for sending him to hospital NOT jail. (sic)”
The activist, who asked to remain anonymous, believes the puppy’s paw, which was just a raw stump, was brutally amputated.
“That leg came off without anaesthesia. I know some people use puppy legs and tails for muti,” the woman says.
“He was using that amputated leg to elicit a higher price than normal. He usually wants R200-R300.”
“She’s doing well. At three months old, her leg, above the joint, will be removed.”
Cape of Good Hope SPCA Chief Executive, Mqabuko Ndukwana, urged people not to buy animals off the street.
“If there’s a demand, there’ll be a supply,” says Ndukwana.
“By buying those animals, you’re not saving the animal; you’re perpetuating the cruelty.”
Ndukwana reveals the puppy seller was recently released from prison after serving time for animal cruelty.
“He spent six months in Pollsmoor and came out recently.
“The SPCA has been investigating him for three years and laid charges against him for other incidents in the past,” he says.