On 11 November, Sandton SPCA received distressing phone calls from members of the public regarding a young pup that was being tied up outside a beauty salon at the Riverside Shopping Centre in Bryanston.
It was reported that the owner was busy getting her nails done while the pup was tied up outside with no water, yelping constantly.
An eyewitness, Emily Kinnear told the Sandton Chronicle what she saw.
“We heard barking and yelping for an hour. When we went to investigate we found the puppy tied to the balustrade upstairs. After enquiring we found the lady sitting in a nail salon. When I enquired, she said the dog needed to be taught a lesson. She then picked up the dog and walked into the salon. We went back downstairs and two minutes later we heard the yelping again. She had just gone and tied the pup up again,” said Kinnear.
Jaco Pieterse, general manager of the Sandton SPCA was informed of the incident and the Sandton SPCA sprang into action. “We immediately dispatched an inspector to investigate but unfortunately the inspector missed the lady by a few minutes and she left with the dog.
“The beauty salon was not prepared to provide our inspector with any information regarding the woman. After further investigation, it was established that the dog was adopted and we traced the details of the owner. It was established that the lady was not the owner of the dog but rather her friend, who adopted the dog from us.” said Pieterse.
The SPCA met with the actual owner of the dog during the week. “He was very distraught about the incident and claims he was not aware that his friend took the dog. He now claims he adopted the dog for his friend. This is a breach of our adoption contract. During the meeting, he agreed that his friend is not capable of looking after the dog and agreed to sign the dog over to us. We will now be finding a new home for Izzy (the dog).”
“When people adopt an animal from us they go through a whole process and sign a legal and binding contract with the SPCA to ensure that the welfare of the animal is safeguarded. No animal should be tied up outside a shopping centre whilst their owner or carer is having their nails done or is doing shopping.”
Riverside Shopping Centre management told the Sandton Chronicle that the centre is pet-friendly, and that water bowls are provided to pet owners inside the mall.
The owner of the dog could not be contacted at the time of publishing.
