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A loving farewell to much-beloved Sharkie, companion to Giel Nel. Sharkie was killed in a poacher's snare on Sunday 23 September.

Family devastated after Sharkie is found dead in snare

Date: 30 September 2018 By: Jo Robinson

Tragically, after going missing on the hiking trails in the forestry plantations while with his owner and family on Sunday, Sharkie the bullterrier was found dead in a snare by his owner in the early hours of Monday morning.

Esther Nel told the Zoutpansberger that she, her father Giel, and her sister Elzabé Stewart went hiking as they had done many times before on the trails. “There are many manmade foot trails into the forest, made by who I am not sure of,” said Nel. “My father always takes his dogs Sharkie and Patrys (a Jack Russell) with him.” She continued that this was one of Sharkie’s favourite things to do, and he would start “calling” her dad from early on Sunday mornings. “He absolutely loved it and was in heaven when we took him there, running around and sniffing, chasing after birds and so on,” said Esther.

They were almost done with their hike and were about 200 metres from the entrance gate when they turned a corner and realised that Sharkie was not with them. They immediately started to call and whistle for him. She said that he usually responded quickly to their calls, but that day it was just quiet, and he was nowhere to be seen or heard. “It was dusk and starting to get dark, so my father decided to take his bakkie and go back on the trail to look for him. My brother-in-law, Greg, joined him on his motorcycle,” said Esther.

The two could not find Sharkie in the dark that night, so Lesley Gaigher (from the Louis Trichardt SPCA), a friend of Esther’s, decided to organise a search for him the following day from 07:00. However, Giel went to look for his beloved companion before that, at first light, because the family suspected that Sharkie might have been caught in a snare but were hoping that it might be around his leg and that they could still save him. “My father phoned me at 06:30 to tell me that he had found Sharkie close to one of the foot trails under a bush. Unfortunately, the snare was not around his leg, but rather around Sharkie’s neck, and he was dead.”

The family are devastated. Esther said that what made this loss so much worse for her father was that it followed so shortly after they had lost her mother earlier this year.

The newspaper spoke to Lesley at the SPCA, who said that the SPCA was currently already doing outreaches every weekend to help animals and owners in need wherever they could. In light of this horrific incident over the weekend, the SPCA will now also launch a project to remove snares from the plantation area. She said that the area was rife with poachers and snares. She realises that the snares will be replaced by poachers but is requesting any help that people in the community are willing to offer to remove these snares and prevent more pets’ being killed in this barbaric manner. They will need as many people as possible and, hopefully, some “muscle” for backup when they go into these areas to clear snares. Lesley wants to get this started as soon as possible after sitting down with their committee and ironing out the logistics. Anyone willing to help in any way can phone her on 071 545 5194.

 

 
 
 

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Jo Robinson

Jo joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2018 pursuing a career in journalism after many years of writing fiction and non-fiction for other sectors.

 
 

More photos... 

Mr Giel Nel cuts the wire from around his beloved dog Sharkie's neck after the bullterrier was killed in a poacher's snare.

Mr Giel Nel digs a grave for Sharkie.

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