Dognapping victim returned home

One of Brixton’s lovable mascots, Rambo, was allegedly kidnapped last week.

Rambo – a Sharpei cross puppy – lives in the flats adjoining the spacious fenced backyard at Brixton Furnishers on the High street with his owner Esau Zungo. He suddenly went missing on the 22nd May.

“When I came in that morning he was missing. There’s no way he could have gotten out, someone must have taken him,” Brixton Furnishers proprietor Bradley Nurock recounted.

“We put flyers up everywhere. We had friends aggressively canvassing the streets with posters, trying to find the dog. Finally a guy came into one of the stores where the flyer was up and said he knew where the missing dog was. He gave us an address in Mayfair.”

The man didn’t want to be identified for fear of retribution. Macy Joubert, the credit owner of the store, and Zungo (Rambo’s owner) went to the indicated address.

“Esau looked through the gate and saw Rambo. The poor dog went mad and started barking and wagging his tail,” Nurock said.

After a while a young man came to the gate and asked Joubert what she was doing there.

“Well, you’ve got our dog,” Joubert replied.

The man was, in Joubert’s words ‘quite aggressive,’ and she threatened to call Brixton police. He hurriedly admitted that a security guard had come to his house and allegedly sold Rambo to him for R1000 before the police could turn up.

He told Joubert to make him an offer to buy the dog back. “I offered R300,” Joubert said. “He said, “Make it R400.””

Deal done, it appeared that Rambo was no longer in the yard in Mayfair. “He was delivered to Macy in a vehicle a few minutes later,” Nurock said.

“She asked him to accompany them back to the store, and once here I took a picture of him with his R400. Honestly, we would have been happy to pay R1000 to get Rambo back.”

Rambo didn’t seem traumatised by his experience. “He was ecstatic and ran around with his tail wagging madly,” Nurock reported.

Northcliff Melville Times went to the address in Mayfair to query the alleged dog-napper, but the man was reluctant to impart his identity or allow access into his house. “I’ve got the security guard on CCTV camera,” he said. “I didn’t know the dog was stolen goods when I bought him, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Brixton police and Johannesburg SPCA have been notified of the crime.

“I have a feeling there is more to this saga than meets the eye,” Nurock said.

“Maybe there’s a dog syndicate using unsuspecting dogs as bait in dog fights, but I have no proof to substantiate this.”

Meanwhile, Rambo has been enjoying an abundance of dog treats and affection back home.

“We’re really happy that we’ve gotten Rambo back,” Joubert said.

“Damn sure we’re happy he’s back,” Nurock agreed.