Wendy Knowler
2 September 2007
Cape Town — Hundreds of grieving animal lovers who paid for specialised cremation services for their dogs and cats will be shocked to learn that their pets may have instead been dumped in a heap at a Durban landfill.
About one in five veterinary practices in eThekwini is serviced by Animal Body Disposal Services, the company accused of the dumping.
The accusations have been denied by Headman Mbanjwa, who runs the New Germany-based business, which provides a cremation service to at least nine veterinary practices and a "burial service" to four more.
But while he does have some animals cremated every month at a specialised pet incineration plant privately run at the Durban and Coastal SPCA's Cato Manor premises, an analysis of the figures indicates that most of the animals are disposed of elsewhere.
Vets involved have expressed shock and the head of the South African Veterinary Association has called for an investigation.
The Weekend Argus has discovered that since January last year, Mbanjwa has made regular trips to the Bisasar Road landfill site
In July, for example, he made seven trips to the site - about two a week - offloading an average of 300kg of animals a trip, according to official Durban Solid Waste records. In contrast, that same month he paid Envirocin, the company which operates the pet incinerator in Cato Manor, for the cremation of just seven animals.
According to several sources, the only other incinerator Mbanjwa uses is run by the SPCA in Pietermaritzburg, but spokeswoman Maureen Vida said he used that rarely.
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