Unknown Silverglen shooter targets cats

Residents of Silverglen have called for justice for the cats of their neighbourhood after more and more of their feline friends become targets for an unknown individual, who shoots, wounds and sometimes kills these harmless creatures.

Homeowner on Parkside Drive, Nolan Pakiri, a mechanic by trade said that this issue has persisted for a while and that six of his cats have been shot with multiple pellets, with one succumbing to its wounds.

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“There is someone in this area, from this road, who shoots cats with pellets and I have had to take the cats down to the vet to get it treated. They shot multiple cats. One cat was shot twice in his backside and he was unable to defecate. Frankie is by far the worst- they shot him and the pellet is on his spine and as a result, he has lost movement in his hind legs. The vet says he got shot and the wound closed up and clamped down, so it is affecting his nerves. He came in about four weeks ago, I was working and I noticed he had gotten shot in his leg on his right leg. I looked at him and saw he was fine, but I did not look at his back. He was showing symptoms but we noticed he was getting weak in his back. He was eating well, running and jumping, but he got weaker and weaker. He has to be fed wet food and is on painkillers. I do not know what his fate is going to be, but we have to try and save him,” explained Pakiri.

He continued, “Recently, what I have noticed is, he has been losing weight. Just last week, he was outside walking, and all of a sudden, he lost his balance. Then he lost mobility, so I started taking him for treatment. I took him to the Westville Veterinary Hospital to get a quotation to see how much it could cost to remove that, as an ordinary vet cannot do it, and the cost amounts to around R15, 000. Apart from that, the vets at the hospital picked up that will cost an additional R9, 000 to treat. In the interim, we have got some blood tests done for him as well as antibiotics.”

The 48-year-old went on to explain that he was never a cat lover, but now, he has 20 under his care, many of whom are strays from the area.

“With the help of Cats of Durban, and one of the guys, who work there, Rodney, we trapped all the cats and took them to the Montclair Vet. We have gotten each of them neutered, and given them rabies shots and everything else necessary. Some started to live inside the house. At night, I lock them up and sometimes during the day, they roam around. However, on this road, there is someone who hates cats and what also I noticed is that monkeys are being shot. I have seen baby monkeys, who have their flesh hanging- the adult monkeys have bullet wounds. This person must be shooting them at close range. It is plain evil. I think the person, who is doing this, needs to be educated to stop injuring and hurting these animals. To them, it is just an animal, but for us, it is an animal that we love and take care of. They are our pets at the end of the day. Besides that, we all know they can be a nuisance, but there are safe ways to chase them. I cannot understand why someone would take out so much aggression on the cats. I might not have liked cats, but I would never shoot them. These cats are friendly, what is the need to shoot them? My family is also very involved in taking care of the cats- nurturing them, and taking care of them. It’s not just me, it’s all of us. They are part of our family,” he said.

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Cats of Durban chairperson, Niki Moore, was shocked to learn of the inhumane actions toward these cats.

“First of all, harming any animal is a criminal offence. Furthermore, I would be surprised if there is no legislation against the use of air rifles outside of a controlled environment, let alone an innocent animal. It is very likely a young person, who perhaps does not understand the weight of their actions. If it is an adult, it is far more heinous. I do hope that they are caught for this crime. We will be putting pressure on authorities to take this act seriously as soon as we know more about it. This is outrageous. These kinds of cases are so difficult that unless someone spots it, it will be tough to find the culprit. It must be someone in that area and surely someone knows something. We would follow the owner and support them to the hills if the perpetrator is found and taken to court,” said Moore.