In the Khayelitsha area of Cape Town, South Africa, a dog named Lily faced a cruel fate. The headmaster of Luhlaza Secondary School, Manono Makhaphela, ordered his janitors to bury Lily, a little dog with paralyzed legs, alive. He thought she was causing trouble by barking for food on the school playground. One of the cleaners, Bukelwa Mbulawa, did not agree with this harsh decision. She reached out to the Mdzananda Animal Clinic to save Lily.
After a week, on October 20, 2011, Lily was rescued. The rescuers had to drive for almost 20 minutes to reach her. She had been buried just 1.5 meters away on the school’s tennis grounds. Lily was taken to a veterinarian where they found out that her paralyzed legs were a result of a previous spinal cord injury. Luckily, she didn’t suffer any serious injuries from being buried.
Makhaphela was brought to the Khayelitsha Magistrates Court by the National Tax Authority for his actions. Jane Levinson, the clinic’s project manager, provided evidence against him. The court found Makhaphlea guilty of being cruel to Lily, causing her unnecessary suffering, and neglecting her. He was fined 6,000 South African Rand. Half of the fine was postponed for five years on the condition that he organize a program at his school to teach others about protecting animals.
The Mdzananda Animal Clinic’s Fundraising and Media Manager, Marcelle du Plessis, said they appreciated the authrities’s actions. They hoped that Makhaphela would follow through with the program by July 18. He also had to send progress reports about the program’s growth to the Mdzananda Animal Clinic every six months for five years. While they knew they needed to keep an eye on Makhaphela, they were hopeful that Lily’s case would set an example for preventing animal cruelty in the future.
The story of Lily is not just about one dog; it’s about standing up against animal cruelty and making a better future.
