JMPD to probe officers for refusing to help catch ostrich on N14
Johannesburg metro police will probe the conduct of officers who refused to help volunteers capture an ostrich on the N14 near Diepsloot.
The bird ran around on the busy highway on Thursday.
Owl Rescue Centre founder Brendan Murray says they were called to the scene but struggled to restrain the bird due to a lack of manpower.
"We came across JMPD officers at a roadblock under the bridge. They were about nine officers, I asked them to assist by closing the highway and herd the bird to a nearby farm in Mndandi and our vets can come later and sedate it, but they were not interested at all.
"Two hours later we had volunteers and we managed to capture it. Ostriches suffer from stress-related problems, the stress of running on a freeway, and the stress of being rescued, within minutes after rescuing her she collapsed and went into cardiac arrest and we tried to resuscitate her for 20 minutes but unfortunately, we lost her," says Murray.
Metro police spokesperson Xolani Fihla says the incident was not reported to them.
"One of our core mandates is traffic management and it is important for officers to call the NSPCA to keep the animals off the road and avoid accidents from happening. Since it was mentioned that officers refused to help this matter it will be looked into and further actions will be taken. In future motorists should call the traffic police or authorities from NSPCA to assist."
William Nicol this morning! True story! 👀 pic.twitter.com/RtTvy8F149
— Gilly (@GillianYoungBe1) July 28, 2022
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