Search for border collie a saving grace for two dogs sealed up in stormwater pipe
Two dogs were saved after a dog lover heard them continuously barking from "as if underground" during the recent search in Mamelodi for the beloved border collie of a retired vet from Die Wilgers.
The search for the border collie dog of Wilgers vet, Dr Selma van Schouwenburg, has led to the rescue of two other dogs.
“These dogs were found under dire circumstances and rescued from the brink of death,” said their rescuer from Silverton, Kerneels Möller.
Animal lovers countrywide took notice of the crime incident three weeks ago when Van Schouwenburg’s car was stolen at a shopping centre.
She was ambushed by two motor thieves at the time, her car keys were taken from her bag (without her knowledge) and the thieves drove off with Haiku in the back seat.
The car was traced the same day through a tracking device in Mamelodi. There was no sign of Haiku.
A huge search party was launched and various animal lovers helped the heartbroken 90-year-old vet to find her dog.
Tebogo Maredi of the Soshanguve Animal Shelter was in the reception of a local SPCA when a resident entered to report they had found Haiku after being alerted to the dog’s presence in a resident’s backyard. Van Schouwenburg and Haiku were reunited in Derdepoort.
Möller, one of the members of the search parties from nearby Silverton, heard dogs barking “as if from underneath the ground” while searching for Haiku in the veld near the reservoir in Mamelodi.
He eventually found two dogs in a stormwater pipe. The pipe was “sealed off” with rocks so that the dogs could not escape.
Möller removed the rocks, but the dogs would not exit out of fear.
“I asked the residents in the vicinity if they knew anything about the dogs. From their accounts, it seemed that the dogs were already holed up there for three weeks. I suspect somebody must have kept on feeding them and keeping them there deliberately for some reason,” he said.
“We could not find an entrance from the other side where they could have slipped in.”
For a while, he went back daily and left food and water for the dogs, but they still did not budge from the pipe.
“Eventually I took my bakkie, pulled it up in front of the pipe and opened it at the back. I put some steak on the back and waited. They came out to eat the steak and I could catch them and take them home.”
He was not surprised when the dogs immediately drank about six litres of water at his home in Silverton.
After a few good baths, he took them to a vet to rid them of the ticks they were badly infested with and also to deworm them.
He asked around at animal shelters if they would take the dewormed and clean dogs in to re-home them.
Unfortunately, the shelters were all full and could not accommodate any new dogs. However, even though Pretoria Dog Rescue was fully occupied, the director Reinette le Roux offered to help Möller find a new or foster home for the two dogs.
The two female dogs now have names: Whitey and Blackie. They respectively weigh 12kg and 16kg.
Moller said he is an animal lover and cannot stand any cruelty to animals.
“The barking during the search for Haiku bothered me so much I had to make a plan,” he said.
He has taken various rescue dogs through the years and is still the proud owner of four rescued dogs: Bees, Sprinkaan, Lilly and Spies.
Moller said at present Whitey and Blackie are still staying with him in Silverton, but are not getting along well with his other dogs. At present, he can keep the newly rescued dogs from his other dogs.
“It is not a sustainable solution and I would like them to get a home where they can be the queens of the house on their own. They deserve to have a good life after what they have been through,” he said.
Anyone who wants to re-home Whitey and Blackie, can contact Kerneels Möller on 083 320 3014 or Reinette on 083 767 634
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*Please note this article has been amended
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