Oshakati
An Oshakati family has vowed to keep up their protest against the authorities with one member chained to a street light pole outside Oshakati Police Station, demanding justice for their dog ‘Rambo’, that was shot dead in cold-blood on Wednesday.
The shooting of the beloved family dog took place after a neighbour of the Ockhuizen family claimed the dog had killed his goats. “I’m not moving, if they want me to move they should remove me like they shot my dog,” said Valencia Ockhuizen.
Rambo was shot twice and died 40 minutes later while being treated by a veterinarian at Ongwediva.
A man, known to the family only as ‘David’, allegedly shot Rambo. The shooter was allegedly sent by a headman from a nearby village to kill the one-year-old dog – a crossbreed between a Husky and a Boerboel.
The family – that until Sunday afternoon was still protesting over the killing of their beloved dog – is demanding that the police register a case of trespassing, malicious damage to property, as well as the unlawful discharge of a dangerous and possibly unlicensed firearm in a residential area.
The family also demands that the police register a case of endangerment, assault by threat and racial discrimination by the headman and the police. At the time of writing, the police at Oshakati had only registered a case of animal cruelty (CR 229/09/15).
In a petition received by Warrant Officer Josephat Ndivayele, on behalf of Regional Police Commander Commissioner Rauha Amwele, the family asked the police to arrest the suspect, ‘David’, and his accomplices and to confiscate the shotgun used to kill the dog.
Head of the family, Albert Ockhuizen told New Era that the suspect and his accomplices arrived at the family home on Wednesday morning and lured his dog outside.
“They then chased Rambo for about a 100 metres from the house with two bakkies, where they shot him,” Albert recalled. He said prior to the shooting they also informed his sister-in-law they were planning to kill the dog for allegedly killing some goats.
“But they failed to provide any evidence of the goats attacked by Rambo,” Albert said. He claimed the family had been racially discriminated against by the headman and heard the police call them “stupid kwankalas”, a derogatory Oshiwambo term used to refer condescendingly to other ethnic groups.
The family further questioned the professionalism of the Oshakati police, saying two police vans approached them on Saturday night while they were protesting and instead of assisting, intimidated them to leave, while officers apparently mocked and laughed at the family, calling them “kwankalas”.