Courage, the dog that was buried alive in Delft in July, is living up to his new name and has recovered well since his rescue.
The traumatised pooch was dug out from under a heap of sand by inspectors from the Cape Good Hope SPCA on July 2 after the organisation received a call from a concerned resident in The Hague.
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.
“Courage was the epitome of neglect and his fight for his life didn’t end with his rescue, it had in fact only just begun. Unvaccinated, un-neutered, underfed, uncared for and unloved are the words we’d use to sum up Courage’s life to this point,” the organisation stated.
He faced a life-threatening disease, a baffling skin condition, pain caused by untreated arthritis in his hips and spine and a transmissible venereal tumour.
He has since faced every veterinary intervention including examinations, frequent germicidal baths and various treatments including chemotherapy.
He will require life long chronic medication to manage his arthritis and will need to be kept away from any other dogs, especially those on chemo or cortisone.
“Our onsite animal behaviourist has described Courage as a friendly adult male with good recall. He walks on a leash, sits for treats, has no resource guarding tendencies and makes good eye contact,” the SPCA added.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za