Lentswe, Klerksdorp - The Orkney & Klerksdorp Animal Shelter has expressed its concern about motorists who break the speed limit and do not consider animals along and in the road. A motorist hit two cows outside Kanana on the Orkney road on Sunday January 14. The animals graze in the area and are usually led across the road by 10:00 and then in the late afternoon.
Warning signs are already on the road to be on the lookout for stray animals and there is also no fence anywhere in sight.
The accident on Sunday morning was the last straw for Diane Jacobs from the shelter as the cows had to be put down and then slaughtered right there on the side of the road.
The driver of the VW Golf escaped without serious injury.
Diane told Lentswe that this is not the first time this has happened. “Three cows died in September when another car also ran into them. Exactly the same place where you drive off the bridge towards Orkney,” she said indignantly.
“Sunday’s collision happened at 09:50 and we spent hours in the sun assisting the animals only to see the owners have to slaughter them as the animals’ legs were broken. One also had a head wound after its horn went through the car’s windshield,” she said.
She appealed to motorists to watch out for the cattle, as they have been crossing the road for the past 15 years.
“A motorist can lose his life in such a collision. It is dangerous. Stick to the speed limit and you can avoid a collision.”
