NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-07-23Guard kills dog on Henties beach
Adam Hartman
DEAD ... The friendly and playful Cassie lying dead on the beach after being shot. Photos: Contributed
CASSIE and Jack – the two seven-year-old Swiss Shepherds of Elsa van der Merwe – and her Scottish Terrier were, like always, playing on the beach in front of her Henties Bay home last Friday morning. Cassie was dead by noon when a guard of former President Sam Nujoma shot her.
“They went down to the beach. They always do. The people of Henties Bay know them. They never hurt anyone; they just like to play and now Cassie is dead,” said a sad Van der Merwe.
She was in her home, busy working on her next book while the dogs were playing on the beach. The next thing she heard was what she thought was a door slamming, but when two of the dogs returned soon after without Cassie, she went outside and saw her lying dead on the beach.
“I ran down to her and although there was no blood, there was a hole in her flank. The bullet never left the body suggesting that she was shot from far. These guys use 9mm pistols and if it was a close range the bullet would have gone out the other side. If she was attacking the guard, then she would have been shot from the front at close range, but this was on the side,” Van der Merwe said.
Two men came walking toward her and she asked them for help but she could not communicate with them. One could apparently not understand or speak English, while the other spoke broken English.
They just left her. She later found out that one of the men was the alleged shooter.
Nujoma was at his holiday house over the weekend to attend several official functions in Henties Bay and Swakopmund.
When Van der Merwe went to the local police to lay a charge she was told that the shooter had already made a statement. It was alleged that the dog had attacked him and therefore he shot it, she explained. She was blamed for allowing her dogs to move around a municipal area without a leash.
Police Inspector Erastus Iikuyu said that it was reported by the guard that five dogs apparently attacked him on the beach.
“He was on an observation patrol mission when the incident happened. Now you can understand how any individual would have reacted in such a circumstance. That is why he shot the dog; to protect himself,” Iikuyu said.
He said that both parties “were free to lay charges” but after Van der Merwe was informed that there were municipal rules regarding dogs, the matter was settled.
She was in her home, busy working on her next book while the dogs were playing on the beach. The next thing she heard was what she thought was a door slamming, but when two of the dogs returned soon after without Cassie, she went outside and saw her lying dead on the beach.
“I ran down to her and although there was no blood, there was a hole in her flank. The bullet never left the body suggesting that she was shot from far. These guys use 9mm pistols and if it was a close range the bullet would have gone out the other side. If she was attacking the guard, then she would have been shot from the front at close range, but this was on the side,” Van der Merwe said.
Two men came walking toward her and she asked them for help but she could not communicate with them. One could apparently not understand or speak English, while the other spoke broken English.
They just left her. She later found out that one of the men was the alleged shooter.
Nujoma was at his holiday house over the weekend to attend several official functions in Henties Bay and Swakopmund.
When Van der Merwe went to the local police to lay a charge she was told that the shooter had already made a statement. It was alleged that the dog had attacked him and therefore he shot it, she explained. She was blamed for allowing her dogs to move around a municipal area without a leash.
Police Inspector Erastus Iikuyu said that it was reported by the guard that five dogs apparently attacked him on the beach.
“He was on an observation patrol mission when the incident happened. Now you can understand how any individual would have reacted in such a circumstance. That is why he shot the dog; to protect himself,” Iikuyu said.
He said that both parties “were free to lay charges” but after Van der Merwe was informed that there were municipal rules regarding dogs, the matter was settled.
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