A Toti family is mourning the loss of their dog after he heroically attacked an intruder in their Vasco da Gama Drive home and died from his injuries.
Elicia Jansen van Rensburg (46) said they were awoken by their 14-year-old Jack Russell, Trusty “going beserk” at about 1.20am on Tuesday, 29 April.
An intruder had gained access through their bathroom window.
When Elicia and her fiance, Johan Moller stepped out of their bedroom and came face-to-face with the knife-wielding intruder, they shut themselves in their room and phoned 10111.
“Our bedroom key was on the outside and the intruder locked us in,” said Elicia. “It was dead quiet and we didn’t know if my 20-year-old son, Devan was still alive.”
A while later there was a knock on the bedroom door. After verifying it was Devan, the couple came out and found blood everywhere. When Elicia contacted 10111 again, the woman put the phone down on her. “Then Trusty came crawling out of a puddle of blood to defend his mommy,” said a tearful Elicia. After contacting 10111 a third time, the police arrived and escorted Elicia to a Sherwood veterinarian. “The vet said Trusty was kicked and stabbed and he died of his injuries.”
On the way home Johan phoned at about 3am to say the intruder had returned. “He must have been watching our house the whole time and when he saw the police leave, went back inside.” However, when the police arrived, there was no sign of the intruder. All that was missing was Elicia’s laptop.
“If only the police had responded to my first call, they could have caught him inside our house.
Trusty was such a mild-mannered dog. He never had to fight. He died a hero in our eyes.”
