Durban - A mongrel named Striker, severely injured two weeks ago when his owner was robbed, has been saved through a united effort by the Animal Anti-Cruelty League, a Hillcrest vet and his owner.
Striker was hurt by thieves who tried to rob Beauty Memela, 61, a chicken vendor who sleeps in a chair in the shelter where she raises and sells chickens in Kelly Road in Hammarsdale.
Her two dogs, Pupi and Striker, chased off the thieves but, in the process, Striker disappeared. He limped home two days later with his right back leg partly severed.
“They are my friends - not just my guards” she said. “I couldn’t bear losing Striker.”
Not sure how to help the animal, Memela became desperate, but then, she said, a miracle happened.
“I was in my stall when I saw a van with animal prints on it (the Animal Anti-Cruelty League) and I approached it and asked them if anything could be done,” she said.
A team from the organisation assessed the severity of Striker’s injury and he was taken to the Hillcrest Veterinary Clinic for an operation.
Judy Gibson, spokeswoman for the league, said: “We were dropping staff at the taxi rank when Beauty approached us. When I saw her affection for the dog and heard her say her dogs were her life, we had to help.”
The dog was in “severe pain” and the league staff thought euthanasia was probably the easiest option, but Memela became distraught.
That was when Dr Pieter Hanekom of the Hillcrest Veterinary Clinic stepped in. Hanekom and the league picked up the R6 000 tab for Striker’s operation.
“The dog’s leg was severed below the hock joint and we had to amputate further up. There was nothing we could do to save it, but Striker should be able to recover nicely and live on three legs,” the vet said.
The Mercury