Twelve animals suffering from poor living conditions were taken by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The SPCA received complaints on their hotline about the living conditions of a horse from property on County Road 3304 in Jacksonville.

SPCA president Deborah Dobbs said: “The first warrant served was for a horse that we could see from the road. When we went in to get that horse, we discovered numerous other animals living in horrific conditions”. The next day they went back to the farm to recover the remaining animals.

The animals were found living in what is considered to be a “dumping ground” filled with garbage and broken glass. The animals were not given adequate food and had to fight over what was given to them.

Two of the animals had eye injuries and two animals were pregnant.

The SPCA, though a small organization, is warning people to step up their care for animals or give them to someone who can properly take care of them.

Just recently a Newlands resident donated hundreds of thousands of rands in order to construct a facility for stray and relinquished animals to live in.