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‘Act of pure evil’ – Manenberg children torture and kill dog

The terrified dog is dragged by its laughing tormentors by a nylon rope around the neck. “You are going to die‚ die‚” the children scream‚ kicking the helpless creature‚ pelting it with chunks of concrete.

The injured dog‚ yelping in agony‚ tries to get away but appears to be stunned. It stops moving after a devastating blow from a chunk of rock.

These are the final moments in an incident described as an “act of savagery” as children film themselves killing what appears to be a stray dog in Manenberg‚ Cape Town.

The video‚ widely shared on social media‚ has drawn outrage and swift action by the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.

The SPCA’s Belinda Abraham described it as “an act of pure evil” in an interview with CapeTalk breakfast radio host Kieno Kammies on Thursday.

The clip starts with a group of children‚ some as young as seven‚ “dragging what we think is a stray dog by a nylon rope around its neck to a secluded spot”‚ said Abrahams.

The children provoke their own dog‚ a pit bull terrier‚ “to attack this terrified stray by delivering some brutal kicks to it”. The pit bull bites the helpless dog but after several failed attempts at getting it to kill‚ “they proceed to then hang the stray dog from a tree”.

“They bring it down again and then they pelt it with rocks‚ chunks of concrete‚ several of which were aimed directly at the dog’s head and were thrown with massive force with obvious intent to inflict the maximum amount of injury pain and suffering‚” said Abrahams.

The video ends with the animal lying motionless in the dust‚ pounded by a large rock. The children later threw its body into some water nearby.

“It’s an act of savagery” said Kammies.

SPCA inspectors identified all of the children‚ and the person who made the video‚ within hours of the incident‚ which happened on Friday. A criminal case has been opened at the Manenberg police station. Social workers from the Department of Social Development have been called in to speak to the children in an effort to rehabilitate them.

Manenberg on the Cape Flats is a suburb where gang violence and drug turf wars occur frequently. The SPCA was unable to speak to the children’s parents on Wednesday due to shooting in the area.

The state vet’s preliminary examination found the dog had broken limbs and several open wounds to the body and skull area.

“When a child shows intentional cruelty towards an animal that is this severe and without remorse‚ acts like this have to be taken very seriously‚” said Abrahams.

“These images aren’t young hooligans behaving badly but rather footage‚ we believe‚ of tomorrow’s killers which if left unchecked will certainly kill again.” – TMG Digital

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