Beastly neighbours moo-ve into leafy suburb

01 July 2014 - 02:04 By Nivashni Nair
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HOOFING IT: Bovine herds disturb traffic in Veldenvlei, in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal
HOOFING IT: Bovine herds disturb traffic in Veldenvlei, in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal

Residents of the Richards Bay suburb of Veldenvlei are not happy about their new neighbours: cows, goats and donkeys.

They say cattle are herded into their suburb to graze every winter.

While some residents joked that "the grass has to be cut somehow since the municipality isn't doing it", most are livid and have called on both the police and the local authorities to remove the animals. Resident Sias van Schalkwyk said the animals posed a threat to both motorists and small children on bicycles.

The spokesman for the National Council of SPCAs, Chris Kuch, said Cosmo City on the outskirts of Johannesburg had recently experienced an increase in road accidents when goats were left to run free.

Said Kuch: "If you look at the road to Sun City, there have been animal and human fatalities because of the animals on the road."

The NSPCA made an urgent appeal in April to large and small-scale farmers to plan for winter.

"With the shortage of grazing land, we told farmers to plan, protect and prevent. We all know that in certain parts of the country there is no rain at this time of the year. We all know that feed will be scarce," Kuch said.

The managing director of the National African Farmers' Union, the Rev Otto Mbangula, said animals could wander into suburbs and onto national roads when they are not supervised, have escaped from their enclosures or are not properly housed.

"Farmers also lose out when their livestock wander around because [animals] are hit by cars and are stolen by stock thieves."

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