SHOCKING: SAPS K9 Sky dies despite several welfare warnings
· The South African
SAPS K9 Sky has died after suffering severe injuries, while fresh allegations suggest police ignored earlier warnings about her welfare.
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The South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed K9 Sky’s death on Wednesday, 9 September. Veterinarians euthanised the former arson-detection dog after her condition deteriorated and her injuries made surgery and anaesthesia extremely dangerous.
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police chairperson Ian Cameron says SAPS’s own veterinary records show officials knew Sky faced serious risks in a kennel environment before the incident that led to her death.
Cameron has opened a criminal case and referred the matter to the NSPCA’s Special Projects Unit and the South African Veterinary Council.
He has also questioned SAPS’s account of the events leading up to Sky’s injuries.
Sky’s condition deteriorated
Cameron said Sky’s condition deteriorated severely before veterinarians made the decision to euthanise her.
She suffered an open fracture to her left front leg, while tissue in the limb had started dying. Her right front leg was also fractured and the skin had begun to die.
According to Cameron, extensive muscle damage caused Sky’s muscles to begin breaking down and turned her urine red.
Doctors also suspected that her organs had started failing.
After consulting Sky’s treating veterinarians, they decided to euthanise her to prevent further suffering.
Onderstepoort will conduct a clinician-led post-mortem examination and compile a formal report on its findings.
Cameron wants investigators to include that report in all probes into Sky’s death.
SAPS records reveal previous concerns
Cameron says a SAPS veterinary certificate signed on 28 August raises serious questions about what police management knew before Sky suffered her fatal injuries.
The certificate records that SAPS admitted Sky to its Roodeplaat veterinary facility in March after she suffered injuries linked to kennel stress and previous escape attempts.
Those injuries included wounds to her face and legs as well as damage to her teeth.
The veterinary record described Sky’s attempts to escape as “persistent and compulsive” and recorded that she continued trying to escape when officials left her unattended.
Veterinarians diagnosed Sky with separation anxiety and severe kennel stress.
According to Cameron, they treated her with Fluoxetine, Gabapentin and Trazodone.
Crucially, he says the certificate recorded that Sky faced a poor prognosis in the SAPS environment and could not remain there without compromising her welfare.
Veterinary staff recorded that assessment just 10 days before the incident that ultimately led to her death.
Questions over plans to rehome Sky
SAPS previously said Sky was no longer an operational K9 and had a history of escaping from kennels at her former K9 base in Limpopo.
Police moved her to the Roodeplaat veterinary facility while officials arranged to place her with a suitable new owner.
SAPS said the donation process remained under way when Sky suffered her injuries.
Cameron, however, says that explanation raises further questions.
According to information supplied to him, SAPS members asked during August for permission to place Sky temporarily in a suitable home while officials completed the formal process.
Cameron says a suitable and willing person had already been identified.
He alleges officials failed to escalate the request that could have removed Sky from the kennel environment.
Cameron now wants SAPS to explain why the placement process took about 160 days despite veterinary personnel knowing that confinement posed a risk to Sky.
He also wants investigators to establish when the process started, what steps officials took and who carried responsibility for each stage.
Cameron calls for accountability
Cameron welcomed Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane’s decision to appoint a senior officer to investigate the circumstances surrounding Sky’s injuries.
However, he said the information initially supplied to Dimpane by the Roodeplaat facility and responsible management could prove incomplete or materially misleading.
Cameron has called for investigators to preserve Sky’s veterinary records, post-mortem findings, biological samples, CCTV footage, kennel registers, duty rosters, inspection records and internal communications.
He also wants independent investigators to examine the conditions at the facility, Sky’s supervision and the conduct of those responsible for her care.
Cameron said SAPS could not rely solely on an internal investigation into its own conduct.
He accused the police service of failing Sky and described its statement mourning the K9 as “deeply hypocritical”.
“Sympathy is no substitute for accountability,” Cameron said.
He added that Sky’s death raised wider questions about how SAPS manages and protects animals entrusted to its care.
“Sky served the police and depended entirely on SAPS for her protection,” Cameron said.
SAPS was contacted for comment, but The South African had not received a response at the time of publication.