- JOHANNESBURG - Boys in a
Northern Province village, where many people have apparently died of Aids,
are allegedly turning their attention to goats: they think practising
bestiality
is the way to avoid getting the disease.
-
- Now the National Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty
Against Animals has appealed to people to come forward with
information.
-
- The NSPCA said it had noted an SABC news report that
boys of Mamvuka Village in Nzhelele Valley in the far north of the province
have sex with goats to avoid getting Aids. The organisation said other
admissions were made during the news insert, which was broadcast on Sunday
evening, but the NSPCA had not yet received any official complaints.
-
- "Bestiality is a criminal offence. Charges can be
laid under the Criminal Procedure Act and also in terms of the Animals
Protection Act," the NSPCA statement said. It said two convictions
were recently obtained for bestiality and both offenders were imprisoned
without the option of a fine.
-
- "An appeal is made to anyone with information on
this - or any other bestiality offences to come forward. The NSPCA stresses
that charges can only be laid and proceed when information sufficient to
prove beyond reasonable doubt is to hand."
-
- Captain Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said the Northern Province
police had not received any reports of such crimes. But the SABC
interviewed
at least one boy who admitted he considered bestiality as safe sex, and
that he and his friends had sex with goats up to four times a week.
-
- "We know about Aids and we are very afraid of it.
That is why we are having sex with these goats. Goats don't have
Aids.
-
- "We see people in the village dying everyday. It's
because they have slept with one another and infected each other. Goats
can't get those infections. We would therefore rather have sex with
them,"
a grade 11 scholar said.
-
- "It's obvious that if I'm not sick there is nothing
I can transmit to goats and goats to me. We won't become HIV-positive
because
goats don't get Aids. We often share the same goat and don't get each
other's
diseases," he said.
-
- The NSCPA said some of the statements made during the
broadcast revealed a lack of education, and that an information campaign
should be launched in the affected areas.
-
- "Whether education or prosecution is the key, the
matter cannot move forward without co-operation and solid information.
The NSPCA is deeply concerned that the youths repeatedly stated their
reasoning
for having sex with goats - avoidance of Aids. It is suggested that urgency
be given to correcting such myths."
-
- The SABC reported that the practice affected goat-farming
in the area. Sinah Musekwa, a goat owner, said nobody wanted to buy his
goats any more.
-
- "Since we've learnt that these rumours are true
people don't want to be associated with these goats. No one wants anything
to do with their meat or milk. I'm going to have to destroy my goats,"
he said.
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- http://www.worldonline.co.za/news/news_center_020325.460947.html<
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