Durban's struggling one-eyed goat put down
Durban's one-eyed baby goat is dead. The two-day-old goat - which had "human" features - was put down by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) because it had no nostrils and could not breath properly.
Durban's SPCA Chief Inspector Jacqui Dewar said the animal was collected by their Amanzimtoti branch on Tuesday and put down after it was discovered that it was unable to breathe and could not suckle. The animal was breathing through its mouth.
The residents of Folweni township couldn't believe their eyes at the weekend when they saw the animal, which only had one protruding eye in the middle of its forehead.
"There was nothing we could do to help the baby goat. The animal was very hungry when we arrived and it could not breathe properly," said Dewar.
Some community members had suggested the goat might have been the result of an act of bestiality, but a Durban veterinarian, who did not want to be named, disputed it.
"It is impossible. There is nowhere in the world where an animal can give birth because of bestiality. I believe it was just because of defects that developed while the kid was still inside the womb," he said.
When the Daily News team visited Folweni on Monday, some community members wanted the kid killed. But the owner Rose Magubane, 63, said there was nothing wrong with the animal, saying that it was "God's creature".
On Tuesday, Magubane sadly watched when the SPCA inspectors explained to her that the animal would not survive.
Its twin was born normal.
So strange and sad.