NSPCA to open case against SAPS officials over death of police dog Sky

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandThe NSPCA is to investigate SAPS officials for violations of the Animals Protection Act after police dog Sky, a five-year-old Belgian Malinois, was euthanised due to severe injuries. Picture: Supplied via Specialised Security Services The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) says it will open a docket for contraventions of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962 against officials in the South African Police Service (SAPS), following the death of Sky, a police dog who was euthanised in September after being found severely injured in her kennel.

The charge follows an NSPCA investigation which found that Sky’s ability to cope with her environment did not improve over a period of six months before her death.

The investigation found evidence that Sky was kept in conditions that caused her unnecessary suffering.

“Sky was a working dog for SAPS. When she could no longer work, her records directed that she be disposed of as an asset of the SAPS through a supply chain process. Whatever that process was meant to lead to, she remained in a kennel environment that her records linked to her stress. Sky was a sentient being, and no working animal should ever be treated as an asset,” said senior inspector Arno de Klerk, manager of the NSPCA’s special projects unit.

The five-year-old Belgian Malinois dog served as an arson detection specialist in Limpopo.

She was placed in retirement and removed from her human handler, reportedly earlier this year. Since then, she was kept in cages, developing extreme stress and separation anxiety. In March, she was moved to the SAPS K9 facility in Roodeplaat near Pretoria. Her well-being did not improve.

On the morning of September 7, she was found lying in her kennel at the SAPS Veterinary Hospital in Roodeplaat, Pretoria, covered in blood and seriously injured. She was taken to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital for emergency treatment. Her condition deteriorated despite treatment, and she was humanely euthanised on September 9.

NSPCA spokesperson Samanta Stelli said the council’s special projects unit inspected the facility, met with SAPS twice, and reviewed Sky’s veterinary records, her treatment history and the post-mortem report.

Stelli said the investigation found evidence that Sky was kept in conditions that caused her unnecessary suffering, despite SAPS’s own records documenting the risk to her.

“Those records trace Sky’s distress back to March 2026. That month, she was treated for wounds to her face and legs and for teeth torn from her jaw. She had a reported history of escaping her kennel. While hospitalised, she repeatedly tried to escape and injured herself again. She was diagnosed with severe kennel stress and separation anxiety and given medication.

“She was then confined to a small indoor kennel with additional reinforcements to secure the door. In August 2026, her records concluded that she had a poor prognosis within the SAPS environment. She remained in that environment until she was found injured weeks later,” she said.

She said the post-mortem found that the injuries to both of Sky’s front legs were accompanied by widespread muscle damage consistent with a prolonged period of physical exertion during a traumatic event.

“Her condition would likely have been fatal without euthanasia. It also found older stitched wounds, tooth wear inconsistent with her age, and changes to her adrenal glands, indicative of chronic stress. Taken with her records, these findings point to sustained distress rather than a single incident,” Stelli said.

The NSPCA has called on SAPS, and on every organisation that relies on working animals, to plan retirement, rehoming and end-of-life decisions around the animal’s welfare rather than treat them as a supply chain matter.

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