The SPCA warned residents not to eat their house chickens if they died. (Photo: OJ Koloti/Gallo Images)
- The SPCA in Cape Town has been robbed and looted.
- The thieves stole an undisclosed amount of money, equipment, employee belongings, and several sets of keys.
- The police are checking.
The Cape Town SPCA was devastated after its veterinary shop on Gabriel Road, Plumstead, was robbed and looted during a four-hour load shedding period on Friday night.
Eskom announced Thursday that the country will undergo Phase 6 load shedding, which will continue through the end of the week.
This was to replenish emergency reserves.
SPCA spokeswoman Belinda Abraham said the organization was devastated by the mentality of criminals who took advantage of load shedding to rob the store.
She said the theft came “at a time when the SPCA is facing significant challenges in terms of increasing demand for services that are already stretching our resources to the limit.”
“We simply cannot afford the full cost of the inverter we need to keep our security systems running during load shedding,” she added.
In addition to stealing an undisclosed amount of money, Abraham said, the thieves also stole bags of dog food, broke into the computer’s modem tower, and stole all of the keys in the store.
“They certainly weren’t in a hurry to leave. The thieves even took a while to finish 2 liters of ice cream in the freezer and finished a staff member’s yogurt drink. They even stole staff belongings from the lockers.”
The thieves took time to finish 2 liters of ice cream.
The thieves forcefully gained access to the SPCA veterinary store.
The SPCA was robbed on Friday.
SPCA vet store break-in on Friday.
She said the looters caused a lot of “destruction” to the property.
“They literally went through everything. It is absolutely appalling and devastating what they did to the building. We have since opened a case with the police, hoping that the perpetrators will be caught and brought to trial because this is unacceptable.”
Western Cape Police spokesman Warrant Officer Joseph Swartboy said they were investigating a work break-in.
“Reports indicate that the complainant left the building around 17:00,” he said.
He added that the thieves had not yet been arrested.
Moyo Ndukwana, CEO of the SPCA, said veterinary stores were vital revenue-generating business entities, which helped fund their important work with animals.
“We are very disappointed in this presentation of the complete lack of moral awareness on behalf of the perpetrators who chose to steal from an organization whose services are vital to the community,” he said.
“Now we also (have to) deal with the costs of repairing damage to store structure and equipment, loss of cash and product takes, and we’ll have to install a 5 kilowatt inverter to prevent a re-occurrence of the same thing.”
The SPCA said damages from the break-in have yet to be determined.
Police said anyone with information should contact the Crime Stop on 08600 10111.