Animal inspector describes own rape ordeal in bestiality case

'Animals don’t have a voice and that is why I stood up'

11 June 2020 - 08:27 By Kathryn Kimberley
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VOICE FOR THE SILENT: SPCA Uitenhage inspector Mariaan Wentzel testified in the case against a man accused of bestiality
VOICE FOR THE SILENT: SPCA Uitenhage inspector Mariaan Wentzel testified in the case against a man accused of bestiality
Image: SUPPLIED

An animal inspector emerged a true hero when she became the mouthpiece for a dog who had suffered the vile act of bestiality, by relaying her own harrowing rape ordeal to a court.

“When you are raped, in that moment your voice is taken away from you. Animals don’t have a voice and that is why I stood up,” Uitenhage SPCA inspector Mariaan Wentzel said.

Wentzel, 46, who was beaten and raped during a farm attack in Lephalale in Limpopo in March 2015, said the case had been particularly close to her heart because of her own past trauma.

She had relocated to the Eastern Cape with her family shortly after the attack.

Makhwenkwe Minnaar, 47, pleaded guilty to the charge of bestiality in terms of the Animal  Protection Act and was last week sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years.

The Uitenhage magistrate’s court had opted to place Minnaar under house arrest and not sentence him to a direct term of imprisonment because he had already served 13 months in custody as an awaiting-trial prisoner.

While he was employed as a gardener in Uitenhage, in December 2017, a neighbour filmed him committing a sex act on his employer’s much-loved family pet while they were away.

The footage was immediately handed over to police, as well as the SPCA, leading to his arrest.

Wentzel had obtained a rape kit for DNA samples and the dog was examined by a vet at the Despatch Animal Clinic before being returned to its distraught owners.

Though Minnaar admitted to the repeated sexual acts, Wentzel took the stand in aggravation of sentence, where she told her own story to the court.

She gave permission to publish her name.

“It felt as if I was going through my own trial all over again.

“All those horrid memories came flooding back,” she said of her recent time in court.

Wentzel’s own perpetrator was also jailed for the attack.

She said on Wednesday that she had dealt with two other similar cases of animal cruelty during her time with the Uitenhage SPCA, but that in both matters they were unable to obtain enough evidence to secure a conviction.

“This is something that is happening every day, not only with dogs but with sheep and other animals too. People need to be mindful of who they leave their pets with,” she said.

Asked why she had decided to become a voice for the dog, Wentzel said people needed to stand up for the vulnerable.

“We can’t always be quiet. Being a rape victim is not a crime. The rape is the crime,” she said.

Uitenhage acting cluster commander Brig Ronald Koll welcomed the conviction and sentence.

“This despicable act of animal cruelty should have no place in our society,” he said.

HeraldLIVE


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