The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has clipped the wings of Eagle Encounters after it found severely injured and undernourished birds and other animals at the sanctuary.
The SPCA inspectors confiscated six birds of prey, three snakes and an Egyptian goose during an operation at the facility hosted on Spier Wine Farm outside Stellenbosch.
Eagle Encounters advertises itself as “a wildlife rehabilitation, conservation, education, and eco-tourism centre” on its website.
“After being denied access to conduct an inspection, our inspectors laid criminal charges of obstruction against one of the owners of Eagle Encounters at the Stellenbosch SAPS in terms of Section 5 of the PAPA,” SPCA spokesperson Belinda Abraham said.
According to SPCA chief inspector Jaco Pieterse, they discovered a shed where five birds were being concealed and kept inside crates, covered with towels.
A Booted eagle and a Spotted eagle owl had fractured wings, with one showing a severe maggot-infested wound.
Pieterse claims that the birds had been under the facility’s care for several days without veterinary treatment.
Three snakes were also found concealed behind a washing machine, and without water.
However, co-founder and director of Eagle Encounters, Tracy Chalmers, says correct procedures were followed after rescuing the animals.
“The animals were inspected by the vet, Dr Coetzee de Beer, on the morning of 6 October and none of the animals were in distress,” she said.
Chalmers adds that the animals had access to sunlight and water during the day.
“They did not have water at the time of inspection as the vet’s instruction is that water overnight in an enclosure may lead to the animal getting wet which can lead to hypothermia and death, which would be an animal welfare issue,” she said.
Chalmers says state vet Annelie Cloete from the provincial Department of Agriculture also assessed the premises, and “did not see any licence contraventions”.
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za