Dog buried alive saved
|Published
ORDEAL: Arme Courage is recovering. Picture supplied
The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has rescued a dog that was buried alive in Delft.
The traumatised pooch was dug out of the sand by inspectors after the organisation received a call from a resident in The Hague on July 2.
The caller had seen a hondjie take shelter under a concrete slab, after which an unidentifiable group of mense filled in the exit and completely covered the area under a mound of sand.
“In a frantic race against time, inspector Lee Prins reached the location and dug through the mound of sand with a sinking heart,” the organisation said.
Prins said he knew time was of the essence: “It was taking too long but I had to keep reminding myself that if I start to panic, I won’t be of any use to the dog that needs me now.
“When I finally reached him, he was curled up in a ball and he didn’t move. I thought I was too late. Fortunately this wasn’t the case, Courage was still alive, it seems he had just resigned himself to his fate.”
Chief inspector Jaco Pieterse said the SPCA are trying to find who was behind the act.
“We are very grateful to the compassionate person who called us, this dog would have suffered terribly had we not been notified,” said Pieterse.
“We will do everything in our power to identify those responsible for this heinous act of cruelty and ensure they are brought to book.”
He confirmed that Courage was assessed by their veterinary team.
“Thankfully, he was only dirty, neglected and emaciated.”
Pieterse added that the brave animal is now on his way to recovery and “stealing hearts along the way”.