Coco finds her way back home

You ever just look at your pet and wonder what goes through its mind in various instances, but mostly, when they are faced with situations that frighten them?

For many pet owners in our community, a pet is an extension of the family and becomes an invaluable member to the unit. So, should this invaluable member go missing, in the time of its absence, it’s as though life at home will never be the same again.

This was the case for Auckland Park resident, Bronwyn Law-Viljoen whose Labrador-spaniel mix, unbeknown to her, jumped out the car while they made their way home after an afternoon walk at Emmarentia Botanical Gardens. What makes this 11-month-old puppy so special is that she made her way back home all by herself.

Adopted about two months, Coco is described as being extremely active, attentive, alert, affectionate and eager to please, all while being funny and mischievous, “We all have whole lot of socks without mates,” said Bronwyn jokingly.

On the day she went missing, the family had their usual walk at the park along with their two other dogs, Mini and Max – only stopping for some pizza at a restaurant along Barry Hertzog Avenue before heading back home. It was here that Bronwyn bumped into a friend who was excited to see Coco. “So I opened the window of the bakkie canopy, put Coco on the leash and hopped out to say hi, typical behaviour as she loves to meet people.”
After that encounter, Coco was put back in the bakkie, however, the window was mistakenly left open.

As they drove down Barry Hertzog Avenue Coco jumped out the vehicle. Though Bronwyn did hear a noise at the back of the bakkie, she didn’t think to look around her. “Several people saw her jump out and one woman drove after her to try to catch her.”

It was when only when she got to Rustenburg Road it dawned on her what the noise had meant. As she was accompanied by her sister, the pair turned back around in complete panic. “So we drove and walked and called, until a kind woman stopped us to say that she had been the one behind us when Coco leapt from the window and had nearly run over her. She said that she and the vet from Greenside Animal Hospital had tried to catch her, but she ran in a panic down the road towards Linden,” she explained.

In the time Coco was missing, Bronwyn was sick with worry and self-recrimination for her carelessness and worse, she didn’t know how she was going to break the news to her 11-year-old daughter who adores Coco. She put notices up on Facebook which were shared among various community groups and some people even offered to go out of their warm homes in search of the puppy.

Before curfew hit, she went out for one more search, but it proved unsuccessful which further made her sick with worry. At about 10.30pm, while a member of the Auckland Park Residents Association was doing their nighttime patrol, they called to say they spotted a small, black dog on Bronwyn’s street, but it ran away at attempts to catch it. “So we headed out and drove around the area for half an hour.”

It was on their fifth drive along their street that they saw her at the gate of the house. “I stopped in the middle of the road and called her and she came bounding down the street and flew into the car in a frenzy of joy.”
Bronwyn was in disbelief that Coco, who is micro-chipped and has a collar, found her way back home all her own, making her way through the dark streets based off her memory of their trips to the local park.