In the Khayelitsha suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, Manono Makhaphela, the principal of Luhlaza Secondary School, determined that a helpless tiny dog with paralyzed legs should be buried alive since, in his opinion, she was a major “nuisance.”

Makhaphela felt the need to instruct her janitors to get rid of this alleged problem in the worst way possible since Lily was barking for food in the playground.

Luckily, one of the cleaners, Bukelwa Mbulawa, made the decision to inform the Mdzanada Animal Clinic of what had occurred, saving her life. A week after the incident, on October 20, 2011, this woman was dismissed.

Rescuers had to travel nearly 20 minutes to find Lily, who was buried on the school’s tennis grounds about 1.5 meters away. She was taken to a veterinary facility, where they were able to determine that the spinal cord damage she had previously had was what had caused the paralysis of her rear legs. Fortunately, she did not get any significant wounds as a result of what had transpired.

Makhaphela was brought before the Khayelitsha Magistrates Court by the National Tax Authority, and Jane Levinson, the clinic’s project manager, gave evidence against him.

Makhaphela was judged accountable for abuse, undue suffering, and neglect of an animal. He was given a 6,000 South African Rand punishment, with half of it suspended for five years in exchange for his putting up a program at his school to raise awareness of animal preservation.

Mdzananda Animal Clinic’s Fundraising and Communications Manager, Marcelle du Plessis, stated:

“We appreciate the ministerial authorities initiating this step, and we can only hope Mr. Makhaphela complies on July 18,” they said. Based on the development of his educational program, he will be required to submit a progress report to the Mdzananda Animal Clinic every six months for five years.

Although we are well aware that we need to maintain a tight check on Mr. Makhaphela, we are hopeful that this is the start of Lily’s justice.

Don’t know of how long Lily has been alive, we will never give up on getting her the justice she deserves. She cares more about setting an example for future incidences of animal abuse than simply one dog.

On the other hand, after being accused of animal mistreatment, Poto Mfengu and Mkhumbuzi Ncedana, the janitors in charge of burying this dog alive, were made to perform 150 hours of community service at the Mdzananda Animal Clinic.