The tale of two dogs

Greg Byrne prepared his daughter for six months for the death of their beloved family dogs,  Sasha and Surge. - Source Photo

South Africa — Greg Byrne prepared his daughter for six months for the death of their beloved family dogs,  Sasha and Surge.

Byrne decide it was time to put them down because they were very old.  Upon the arrival of January14 Byrne took Sasha and Surge to the Blairgowrie Veterinary Clinic to be put down.  He left the dogs at the vet and paid R1200 for the service to be preformed.  The vet, Dr Patrick Thenga, was not in.

Byrne told his daughter that the dogs had passed away and went to doggie heaven.

BUT THE DOGS WERE NEVER DEAD!  Byrne received a phone call on the 22 January from the Roodepoort SPCA telling him that Sasha was found alive in SOWETO.  They knew for sure that it was her because of an identity microship picked up in her during a scan.  

Byrne went to the Roodepoort SPCA and identified Sasha,  he then had a huge problem on his hands.

“I couldn’t take her home. How could I explain to my daughter that the dog was back? I had to leave her to be put down. It was heart-breaking,” he said.

 Byrne needed to find out what happened to the male, Surge.

To do this he posted fliers, and e-mailed pictures of his dog.  A staff member from the Community Led Animal Welfare (Claw) reported that on January 16, two days after Sasha and Surge were taken to the Blairgowrie Veterinary Clinic, they had come across a dead old German Shepherd on Elias Motsoaledi Street in Soweto.

Byrne never saw the dog but from the description given he believed it was Surge.  The SPCA is investigating Thenga.  Chris Theron, managing director of the Roodepoort SPCA,  said “We are considering reporting this to the South African Veterinary Council. This is totally unacceptable behaviour,"  he also said that they are planning to charge Thenga under the Animal Protection Act.

Thenga refused to comment about the incident to The Star. He said he hadn’t slept in two days.

Byrne is laying fraud charges against Thenga.  “I just don’t know why he would have done this. Is he trying to save money on the bill, not having to pay for the disposal of the animals?” he said.

Byrne used the services of the vet for over three years at the time and he was extremely happy with the vets services,  he said that the vet even made housecalls.

The veterinary council has found Thenga guilty of unprofessional conduct in the past.

Listed in the Government Gazette of June 22, 2007 are four incidents involving Thenga that occurred between 2003 and 2007.

Two of the charges related to failure to provide adequate post-operative care for an animal.  Other incidents concerned Thenga preforming surgery and administering anaesthesia in a facility that had not been upgraded or registered. His registration was suspended for four weeks on two occasions. The punishment was then suspended for two years.

Source:  http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/heart-breaking-tale-of-two-beloved-pets-1.1226501