‘I hate this dog’

The owners of a dog which was beaten with an iron bar have applauded the justice system after a man was found guilty of animal cruelty in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court.

The dog’s severe injuries meant that it had to be put down.

In his judgment on Monday, magistrate Jeffrey Gar told Marlon Mayor that he was “a ticking time bomb” and a danger to society.

Mayor was remanded and will be sentenced in January.

Chico - a pit-bull-cross-Staffordshire bull terrier - was beaten with the bar on the head and body. He was unable to escape as he was chained to a runner. His owner, Raelene Bell, of Mariannridge, said she was at home when she heard him barking. She was also alerted by a neighbour.

“I saw Marlon chasing him around the tree.

“I was screaming at him to stop.

“I ran outside and carried on screaming at him to stop. I heard him saying, ‘I hate this dog, I hate this dog’.”

Bell said because Chico was on a runner, the more he ran around the tree the shorter his leash became. All the while Mayor continued to hit him in the face.

“Eventually he put the pole down and walked out of the yard. He was then shouting and swearing at me and saying things that I can’t repeat. Chico was still barking at him, but I could hear that his jaw was making a funny noise, like a clicking sound.”

Bell took the bleeding dog to the Sherwood Veterinary Clinic where she was told that its jaw had been broken in three places and that it was not possible for it to be reconstructed.

The dog was then put down.

“I cried my eyes out… Chico was the most passive dog ever; my son would even put his hands in the dog’s mouth and he never did anything.”

Mayor claimed in court that he was on Bell’s property at the time because he wanted to borrow salt, and that Chico had attacked him. He said he used an iron bar he found nearby to defend himself.

However, Bell said Chico’s runner did not allow him to reach the spot where Mayor claimed he was walking and there was no iron bar on her property.

She said the bar came from Mayor’s grandmother’s property next door.

Kloof and Highway SPCA manager Barbara Patrick said the verdict should serve as a warning to people that they could not get away with cruelty to animals.

SPCA inspector Steve Wight said while Chico’s death was sad, it had resulted in a “dangerous man” being taken off the streets.