Last week we spoke about the tragedy of the Cameroon animal scam with English bulldogs, while this affects us very sorely there is another and more horrid animal scam that is quickly becoming a part of the everyday experience here in South Africa. Along with the usual scams another phenomenon that has begun to rise in South Africa is people who stand at robots selling off kittens and puppies. This is not only illegal but is also potentially harmful and very traumatic for the young animals.
The sellers of the animals stand at robots and try to sell of the pets to drivers passing by are standing at the red light. There are obvious dangers implicit in this and a lot of these scams also involve threats that the puppy or kittens will be killed if not sold. The sellers have been known to demand anything from R50 to R500 for the animals.
If you do see somebody selling pets on the roadside or at robots and you think the animals’ life is in danger try to get the animal from the seller – do not put yourself in an awkward to dangerous position though – your best option is to give the SPCA or another rescue centre a call and they will send someone out to handle the situation and rescue the puppy or kittens.
