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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Man fined for shooting monkey
 04/06/2004 13:05  - (SA)  
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1537852,00.html

Durban - A Pinetown businesman has paid a R3 000 admission of guilt 
fine for shooting a vervet monkey with a pellet gun, the SPCA said in 
a statement on Friday.

 Travis Allen Ballard pleaded guilty to charges laid against him in 
terms of the Animals Protection Act No 71 of 1962 by the SPCA Kloof 
and Highway and agreed to pay the admission of guilt fine.

 The SPCA said Ballard shot the vervet monkey in his garden with the 
pellet gun, hitting it in the spine.

 Witness statements said that while the monkey lay injured on the 
lawn, Ballard took potshots at other monkeys trying to assist or 
rescue the injured animal.

 The SPCA Kloof and Highway euthanased the injured monkey. A 
postmortem examination confirmed that a pellet had lodged in the 
monkey's spine.

 The association said it hoped that this case was a warning to anyone 
thinking of misusing a pellet gun on animals or to those who have 
already done so and have got away with it.

 "SPCAs countrywide are experiencing problems involving the use of 
pellet guns on animals. Deregulation has proved to be having a major 
impact in terms of availability.

 "In one instance, hawkers were selling pellet guns outside a Gauteng 
high school in the same week that the local SPCA confirmed reports of 
Egyptian geese on a local dam being used as targets by youngsters," 
said the SPCA statement.

 It added that a gunsmith reported that sales of pellet guns had 
rocketed since deregulation.

 "He used to sell two or three a year, but now that licences are no 
longer required, he is selling two or three a day," said the SPCA.

 Roland Fivaz, from the SPCA Kloof and Highway, said in the last 
three months they had found eight wounded vervet monkeys in the 
Fields Hill area, all from pellet guns.

 Edited by Jannie Momberg