The Animal Welfare Society of South Africa (AWS SA) fears for the lives of Cape Town’s squirrels as the rodents are apparently being poached and eaten by desperate bergies.
This comes after animal rights volunteers in Plumstead spotted a vagrant swinging a squirrel by its bushy tail and punching it.
The tiny animal, identified as an Eastern Grey Squirrel, died after most of the bones in its body were crushed.
AWS spokesperson Allan Perrins says: “Not that long ago, one of our volunteers spotted a vagrant being cruel to a little squirrel.
“He was observed swinging the hapless little animal around by its tail and punching it.
“Despite the risks of confronting the deranged stranger, she unhesitatingly grabbed the injured squirrel from him and sought our help.”
AWS then sought assistance from Squirrel Rescue and Rehab to get their opinion on how best to treat the little fella.
Perrins says: “Unfortunately despite everyone’s best efforts to save the squirrel, it died several hours later from complications associated with multiple bone breaks and fractures.
“It must have been in excruciating pain and we can only guess how long it suffered before succumbing to its fatal injuries.”
Lize Testa from Squirrel Rescue and Rehab adds: “Unfortunately all the ribs of the one side were broken, the pelvis was broken, it was quite bad.”
She says Plumstead is home to numerous squirrels, but they are becoming fast food, explaining: “There are a lot of people that are without food, and they [squirrels] so often end up being food for people living on the streets.
“Of course, there are ways and means of killing whatever you need to eat rather than torturing an animal and that was essentially what was happening.
“He [vagrant] was carrying him [squirrel] in a bag, swinging him around and in the end one of the ribs, punctured the lung and that is how he died, so the torture he had to go through was not necessary.”
Perrins states that although the Eastern Grey Squirrel is classified as vermin, invasive and a threat to their indigenous counterparts, they still deserve to be dealt with humanely.
He counters: “To be terrified and beaten to death is totally unacceptable and punishable.”
Incidents of animal cruelty can be reported to the AWS SA Inspectorate Department on 021 692 2626 during office hours or 082 601 1761 after hours.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za