SPCA Bloemfontein
The Bloemfontein SPCA has laid criminal charges against the owner of a captive-breeding lion farm in the province, after 30 animals that sustained serious burns during recent veld fires, had to be euthanised.
In a long post on its Facebook page, the Bloemfontein SPCA said it had to obtain a “warrant to enter the property” after it was established that no medical treatment was administered to the animals after several days.
Senior inspector, Reinette Meyer, said the SPCA was at the forefront in assisting farmers with injured animals and "ending their brutal suffering" following the devastating fires which ravaged farms in the province.
“On the 3rd day, working tirelessly searching for injured animals, we came across a captive, breeding lion farm. We were refused entry by the owner in the Glen district, even though blazing flames destroyed most of the farmland, and especially the enclosures where the lions were kept,” she said.
“This was a clear indication that all was not well on this farm. The owner knew the lions got injured by the fires.”
Meyer said when officials eventually entered the farm, what they found shocked them "to the bone."
“As we entered the lion camps, we could only see the destruction left behind by the torturing flames. We saw that the lions couldn’t escape the blazing fires and the inhalation of smothering fumes was evident. The lions didn’t move."
“Their fragile bodies were burnt, and their faces carried the devastating scars of the flames just days ago. The camps were in horrible condition. No electric fence, the structure poles burnt down, and the fence hanging on a thread, with open gaps and holes."
"We cremated every single lion that we euthanised," Meyer said, adding that there were 29 lions left on the farm. She said the SPCA opened a case of animal cruelty against the owners of the lions.
Meanwhile, the organisation FOUR PAWS said it hoped that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment takes this incident with the seriousness it deserved, saying there were around 12 000 lions “being intensively bred” on some 300 lion farms in South Africa.
Director, Fiona Miles, said earlier this year Minister Barbara Creecy announced plans to end the captive lion breeding industry and to reverse the domestication of lions.
“While the legislative process takes its course, FOUR PAWS urges the Government to implement emergency interim regulations to ensure that further suffering of this nature does not take place,” Miles said.
“We urge the Department to address this and end the commercial trade of all big cat species from South Africa, this is the only way to #BreaktheViciousCycle of big cat exploitation.”
