Dog fight leads to death threats

WHAT do you get when you put together a Police officer, an SPCA inspector and a howling puppy? A highly confrontational situation, if a recent episode at Otjiwarongo is anything to go by.

Danella Smith, an SPCA inspector at the town, plans to lay criminal charges against a Police constable there who she says threatened her life for simply trying to do her job. Constable Eliakim Neumbo however contends that the woman had no right to enter his property and remove a puppy he had recently acquired for his family.The saga started on Sunday afternoon, when the Neumbo family welcomed a new member into their home in the form of a young pup.They found a spot for the dog (which has not yet been named) in their yard and tied a rope around its neck to keep it from going out, Neumbo told The Namibian.That night while the family was asleep, the puppy apparently started yelping, crying and howling, a situation which led to some agitated neighbours knocking on the family’s door and telling them to stop the noise.Others were apparently concerned about the welfare of the animal.”We said we can’t stop the dog.How do you stop the dog? We told them to leave us alone,” Neumbo said.The next day, however, when the family returned home during lunch hour, their puppy was nowhere to be seen.Enter Danella Smith, who on Monday morning received a phone call at her office at the SPCA from a community member, who alerted her “about an animal that seemed to be tied up in a yard, and with no water”.Smith, according to an account by her sister, went to the address, knocked on the door several times, but to no avail.”Danella Smith is an SPCA officer, with a signed letter of authority from the Magistrate’s office giving her permission to seize any animal, at any time, without a warrant or permission from the owner, if the animal is found to be held in inhumane circumstances,” Smith’s sister, Jana, told The Namibian.Smith apparently found the dog with a rope tied tightly around its neck, and with no water within reach.She took the animal to the SPCA.Neumbo eventually got hold of his neighbours, who told him that they had called the SPCA to collect the puppy, and swiftly made his way down to their offices.Neumbo met Smith’s father at the SPCA offices, as she was not there at the time, and charged that he had stolen their puppy, Smith said.”They said I was mishandling it, that it didn’t have any water or food.But I told them to come look and see if there was food and water.But they wouldn’t go with me,” he claims.When Neumbo returned to the SPCA later that evening with two other people, Smith says he insulted her and threatened several times to kill her.”(She) was also told that she should never walk alone again at night, because she didn’t know what could happen to her,” her sister charged.”She was also told that, had they found her on their property, they wouldn’t be liable for her death,” she claimed.The Neumbos’ dog was eventually returned to them yesterday morning.Smith said that a Magistrate advised her to return the dog to the family with a warning.When he collected the dog, Neumbo allegedly told the woman that he would shoot her.This time, she said, he made the threat in front of witnesses, and now she was ready to lay charges with the Police’s internal discipline unit, as well as a criminal case of assault by threat.According to the Police officer, however, he has his dog back, and, as far as he’s concerned, that’s the end of the matterConstable Eliakim Neumbo however contends that the woman had no right to enter his property and remove a puppy he had recently acquired for his family.The saga started on Sunday afternoon, when the Neumbo family welcomed a new member into their home in the form of a young pup.They found a spot for the dog (which has not yet been named) in their yard and tied a rope around its neck to keep it from going out, Neumbo told The Namibian.That night while the family was asleep, the puppy apparently started yelping, crying and howling, a situation which led to some agitated neighbours knocking on the family’s door and telling them to stop the noise.Others were apparently concerned about the welfare of the animal. “We said we can’t stop the dog.How do you stop the dog? We told them to leave us alone,” Neumbo said.The next day, however, when the family returned home during lunch hour, their puppy was nowhere to be seen.Enter Danella Smith, who on Monday morning received a phone call at her office at the SPCA from a community member, who alerted her “about an animal that seemed to be tied up in a yard, and with no water”.Smith, according to an account by her sister, went to the address, knocked on the door several times, but to no avail.”Danella Smith is an SPCA officer, with a signed letter of authority from the Magistrate’s office giving her permission to seize any animal, at any time, without a warrant or permission from the owner, if the animal is found to be held in inhumane circumstances,” Smith’s sister, Jana, told The Namibian.Smith apparently found the dog with a rope tied tightly around its neck, and with no water within reach.She took the animal to the SPCA.Neumbo eventually got hold of his neighbours, who told him that they had called the SPCA to collect the puppy, and swiftly made his way down to their offices.Neumbo met Smith’s father at the SPCA offices, as she was not there at the time, and charged that he had stolen their puppy, Smith said.”They said I was mishandling it, that it didn’t have any water or food.But I told them to come look and see if there was food and water.But they wouldn’t go with me,” he claims.When Neumbo returned to the SPCA later that evening with two other people, Smith says he insulted her and threatened several times to kill her.”(She) was also told that she should never walk alone again at night, because she didn’t know what could happen to her,” her sister charged.”She was also told that, had they found her on their property, they wouldn’t be liable for her death,” she claimed.The Neumbos’ dog was eventually returned to them yesterday morning.Smith said that a Magistrate advised her to return the dog to the family with a warning.When he collected the dog, Neumbo allegedly told the woman that he would shoot her.This time, she said, he made the threat in front of witnesses, and now she was ready to lay charges with the Police’s internal discipline unit, as well as a criminal case of assault by threat.According to the Police officer, however, he has his dog back, and, as far as he’s concerned, that’s the end of the matter