Cape Town - The killing of 19 African penguins by off-leash dogs over the weekend has resulted in the removal of the two Husky dogs from a residential property in Simon’s Town.
The African penguin is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Seaforth Beach in Simon's Town, is a prominent nesting site for around 150 endangered African penguins and is on the border of Boulders Beach – the world-famous African penguin breeding colony.
The Cape of Good Hope SPCA said its wildlife department was alerted to the discovery of dead and dying penguins on Seaforth Beach by a jogger in the early hours on Friday.
It was subsequently confirmed by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) that the birds’ deaths appeared to be caused by dog bites.
“The SPCA is in possession of an affidavit from an eyewitness who witnessed the incident. It was reported that two Husky-type dogs were seen at Seaforth beach attacking various penguins.
The eyewitness approached the dogs to try and stop them, but the dogs ran off.
The eyewitness tried to follow the dogs but lost sight of them, and when he returned to the beach to assist the penguins, the dogs were back again, attacking the penguins.
The eyewitness ran after the dogs and traced them to their home. The matter was then reported to the authorities,” the animal rights organisation said.
“The SPCA vowed to ensure that justice was served for the penguins, who suffered a traumatic death because of irresponsible dog owners.
“We don’t believe that the dogs are to blame, but will hold their irresponsible owners accountable,” chief inspector Jaco Pieterse added.
Letting dogs run off-leash in a public space is a contravention of the City of Cape Town Animal Keeping By-law.
The dogs have since been impounded in terms of the City’s Animal Keeping by-law.
Cape Times