Gardener denied bail for raping employer's bitch

Pretoria - A 54-year-old Pretoria gardener has been denied bail after he allegedly raped his employer's Dachshund bitch and then jumped over a wall and ran away.

A prosecutor told a Pretoria court that should the man be given bail, it was possible that he would once again have contact with the dog with which he had had "sexual intercourse".

This was one of the reasons why prosecutor Lucas Moseki opposed bail for the man - and the application was subsequently turned down.

The gardener, who is accused of bestiality, cannot be identified before he has pleaded, as the charge relates to a sexual offence.

Investigating officer Constable Nomsa Masilela testified that the accused had worked at a house in Lyttelton Manor, Centurion, on November 7 2011.

The domestic worker saw how the gardener picked up the employer's 7-year-old Dachshund bitch and stroked the dog.

"He walked to the Wendy house with the dog in his arms. The domestic thought he was going to wash the dog," said Masilela.

But when the man started looking around and walked behind the Wendy house, the domestic worker became suspicious.

"She called her employer. They found the man holding the dog's back leg and 'raping' it," said Masilela.

The dog's owner shouted at the gardener, who then dropped the dog and jumped over the wall.

But the dog owner chased after him, caught him and managed to stop a passing police vehicle as well.

The accused claimed at his bail hearing that he knew nothing of the incident.

According to him, his employer and the domestic worker were drunk.