Rehabilitation
Jonty's Story
Jonty was found in a terrible state at an AIDS orphanage in Port Elizabeth. He was virtually bereft of hair, mangy and starving. He was bathed then fed immediately on his arrival at Save-a-Pet. Note the look in his eyes that day.
Six to eight weeks later he was unrecognisable to many who hadn't seen him since his arrival. He had become another success story and a tribute to the Save-a-Pet volunteers who nursed him back to health. Look at those eyes now!
A loveable dog, who sadly passed on during 2009. He had a number of kennel mates who arrived after him yet were adopted before him.
Rosé's Story
By Dave Bath - Save-a-Pet Volunteer
We received a call that there was a sick looking long-eared dog running around near Hunter's Retreat Spar. A lady had tried to feed it but it ran away and she lost it. As my wife and I lived nearby we went to look for the dog but after some considerable searching we could not find the dog anywhere.
The next day Rose Connell's Dog Control Dept was called to look for the dog and soon found her (a young dachshund) hidden in a rosé wine box behind the pub opposite the Spar. They brought her to Save-a-Pet and we named her Rosé from her chosen wine box! She was suffering from mange and had obviously been "on the run" for some time.
The Story of Max
by Dave Bath – Save-a-Pet Volunteer
November 30th 2005. It was my last day at work at Volkswagen Uitenhage and I had hoped that after 22 years service, followed by a 4-month contract, I would be able to leave around lunchtime after tying up all of my “loose ends” and having said my farewells to my colleagues. It was not to be.
I eventually managed to leave at 3.00 p.m. and drive my usual route home to Kabega Park from Uitenhage (Old Uitenhage Road, Booysens Park, Standford Road, Mission Road and Cape Road). It was whilst travelling down Mission Road I spied a dog running in and out of the road some distance in front of me immediately opposite the entrance to the gravel pits. A woman in a BMW 5 Series slowed down and tooted her horn at the dog and he moved back to the side of the road. Then it was my turn.
I slowed down to look at the dog but with a lot of fast moving traffic behind me I drove on noting as I passed him that he looked in a terrible state. Realising that I couldn’t handle the dog on my own, I sped home to my wife Barbara, changed my clothes, ready for perhaps a messy excursion into the bush, collected a towel, a dog box, some dog food and dog biscuits. 15-20 minutes had elapsed by this time. We started out on what I thought would be a fruitless journey as I was sure that if I found him he would be dead on the side of the road somewhere, then I realised my car was into my fuel reserve and if I was to chase a dog over “hill and dale” I had to get some fuel first. So another 5-10 minutes went by.
It’s now after 4.00 p.m. and we are driving back along Mission Road heading for the gravel pit entrance as our first port of call at the same time being vigilant in case he has doubled back towards Cape Road. I asked a truck driver leaving the gravel pit if he had seen a stray dog around. Negative, so we push on slowly in the direction of the S.A.N.T.A. Hospital. No sign of him. Then suddenly, we spot a dog on the road ahead of us. It must be him and as we approach I recognise him as the “scruffy individual” I had first seen on my way home from work.
We pulled up in front of him and tried to coax him with a dog biscuit but he seemed wary of us. So much so that he continued to wander on and off the roadway with lots of traffic whizzing by, blasting their horns with no concern at all for us or the dog. A car pulls up on the opposite side of the road and “Surprise! Surprise!” it’s Ian and Amanda – my old lift club members with whom I had ridden with to work for some years and for the last time the previous day.
Ian assessed the situation pretty quickly and wound down his driver’s window to call the dog at a suitable break in the traffic. The dog responded to his call by rising up on his back legs wagging his tail. Ian opened his driver’s door and “blow me down” if he doesn’t jump into the car and onto his lap! I immediately opened up the boot of my car to get the dog box ready to receive the poor animal. I dashed across the road and took the dog from him through his open driver’s window and dashed back across the road to put him securely in the dog box. We said our "thank you’s" to Ian and Amanda and took the dog directly to Save-a-Pet Animal Rescue Centre near Greenbushes. (The next day I spoke to Ian about the incident and his main comment referred to the fact that the dog “stunk to high Heaven” but he was a friendly dog all the same).
MAX BEFORE
Barbara and I arrived at Save-a-Pet within 10 minutes. Wendy Banks of Save-a-Pet took the dog out of the box and placed him in a quiet room to assess his health and demeanour. “Take a photograph”, she tells me and then I realised that in rushing out to rescue him I had left my camera at home. It was important to get a picture of him “as found” as Save-a-Pet would later be able to show the difference in the dogs condition after approximately 2 months of treatment. So I dashed home again to get my camera and returned to Save-a-Pet to take his “Before” photograph (see picture on the left). I wanted to name him Mack after Ian McIntyre but had to change it to Max as there was already a dog in the kennels named Mack. So Max it was. Since that fateful day – it was fate that prevented me from leaving work for the last time at lunchtime and fate that led me to this poor lost wretch of a dog – Max has been bathed and shaven, his hair was badly matted and in ringlets (Rasta style) and he did "pong" a bit.
MAX AFTER 6-8 WEEKSHe was dipped every week to treat his mange, for which he has also received oral medication. He turned into a wonderful little chappie who had only one problem……He needed a loving home to complete his rehabilitation. Well Max was homed in August 2006.
Max’s story is one of many similar stories that have developed during the time I have been a Save-a-Pet volunteer. Another new dog off the Save-a-Pet “assembly line” but certainly not second hand. Had Max been taken elsewhere in his state, he would probably have been euthenased almost immediately. He was one of the lucky ones who came to
Save-a-Pet.
This story is dedicated to Jasper, our 12 -year old cross dachshund/pom who died in the early hours of February 20th 2006 whilst I was typing this story about Max. R.I.P.
Jasper