NSPCA seizes donkey and tiger skins on Benoni plot after tip-off

31 May 2017 - 18:17 By Jan Bornman
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Image: Gallo Images/ IStock

In another horrific find‚ the NSPCA has uncovered around a thousand donkey skins and seven tiger skins on a plot in Benoni‚ east of Johannesburg‚ following a tip off.

Inspectors said they had found bales of donkey skins tied together with wire on the property‚ with the tiger skins concealed between those of the donkey skins.

"Paraphernalia linked to the illegal donkey skin trade was also found. The suspects fled the scene and abandoned the operation‚" the NSPCA said in a statement.

South Africa has seen a dramatic rise in the killing of donkeys for their skins this year‚ with experts warning the skins are being used to fill a major market in China and other parts of the East.

"Upon closer investigation‚ the Inspectors observed that the slain donkeys appeared to have been hacked behind their necks to presumably render them paralysed in order for them to be skinned. In earlier donkey skin cases‚ the NSPCA made the shocking discovery that the donkeys were still alive‚ but paralysed or unconscious‚ whilst being skinned‚" the statement said.

"The horrible donkey skin trade must come to an end. These animals suffer a horrendous and barbaric death‚" said Senior Inspector Grace de Lange‚ Manager of the NSPCA Farm Animal Protection Unit.

The NSPCA said it would be taking further legal action and were consulting with the relevant authorities.

In January‚ The Times wrote about a discovery of between 3‚000 and 3‚500 donkey skins in Benoni. Following that‚ hundreds of skins were recovered on a plot in Brandvlei near Randfontein on the West Rand‚ and about 500 skins in the Northern Cape.

-TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

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