MEDIA STATEMENT - ISSUED ON 5 AUGUST 2014 - THOUSANDS OF CHICKENS INJURED - NSPCA INSPECTORS RESPOND At around 17:00 on Monday, 4 August 2014, the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) was alerted to a truck accident near Rustenburg involving chickens. The NSPCA immediately dispatched an emergency response team of nine Inspectors to render assistance to the injured birds. On arrival NSPCA Inspectors discovered thousands of dead birds at the scene of the accident and several thousand severely injured birds. The truck was carrying approximately 13,600 chickens when the accident occurred at 16:15 on the R52 between Koster and Rustenburg in the North West Province. The birds were being transported by Unitrans who were contracted by Rainbow to transport the birds to the Rainbow abattoir in Rustenburg. Rustenburg SPCA personnel were the first on the scene and immediately commenced with emergency slaughter on severely injured birds. The remaining chickens were loaded onto another truck and transported to the Rustenburg chicken abattoir where, with the co-operation and assistance of Rainbow, NSPCA Inspectors and Inspectors from the Vereeniging and Rustenburg SPCAs worked through the night into the early hours of the morning of 5 August, emergency slaughtering some 3,476 severely injured birds to end their suffering. The cause of the accident is being investigated by Unitrans. “The NSPCA provides relief to animals impacted by natural and man-made disasters. Various species of farmed animals are transported on our roads every day,” said Andries Venter, Manager of the Farm Animal Protection Unit. “When accidents occur and animals are suffering, we will render what assistance we can.” ~ Ends ~
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:13:30 +0000