Oscar’s up, up and awaaay

Oscar the well-travelled hound chills out on Signal Hill before paragliding off Lion's Head.

Oscar the well-travelled hound chills out on Signal Hill before paragliding off Lion's Head.

Published Apr 16, 2012

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Globetrotter Oscar, the world-famous mutt, is taking off again. He and his owner Joanne Lefson have embarked on a trip around the country in a dog-shaped hot-air balloon named Oscar Maximus.

Their adventure began at the Jacaranda Day festival at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

“I was a little nervous before take-off because the weather wasn’t that great and you never know what might happen. Oscar has never barked so much in his life. I think he thought the hot-air balloon was a cat… but he settled down at the end and started enjoying the two-hour ride,” said Lefson on Sunday.

Oscar and Lefson’s balloon journey is part of their Pedigree Adoption Tour to encourage people to adopt homeless dogs and to promote sterilising canines.

The balloon, which was was made in Orlando, Florida, is 30m high, 40m long, weighs 260kg, and needs 50kg of gas an hour.

“People, especially children, were fascinated by the balloon as they haven’t seen anything like it before. We managed to generate a lot of public interest and hopefully they won’t forget our message about adoption,” said Lefson.

A mix of Alsatian, corgi and cocker spaniel, Oscar was adopted by Lefson from the Cape of Good Hope SPCA in 2004, a day before he was going to be put down.

He became a household name in 2009 when he became the first and only dog to travel the world in what was named the World Woof Tour.

He and Lefson journeyed more than 200 000km across 35 countries. Oscar walked on the Great Wall of China, visited the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, and paraglided off Lion’s Head.

He and Lefson even got married to each other in Las Vegas.

During their trip they visited more than 20 000 animal shelters to highlight the plight of the estimated half a billion homeless dogs around the world.

As canine ambassadors, Oscar and Lefson encourage South Africans to choose adoption as their first option, because only 10 percent of dogs get adopted locally.

For this trip they packed a supply of fancy bedding for Oscar and a pair of goggles for him to wear on board the balloon.

They will visit eight cities, including Joburg, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Durban, East London, and Cape Town, and end their tour in Port Elizabeth on May 9.

On Monday they will be at Fitzgerald Square in Newton, Joburg.

Their campaign also aims to encourage dog owners to sterilise their dogs. Lefson says that just one pair of unsterilised dogs and their unsterilised offspring can produce 67 000 dogs in six years.

“We don’t need more dogs,” says Lefson. “We need more loving homes for the ones that are already here and dying for a second chance.”

For more details about the Pedigree Adoption Tour visit www.worldwooftour.com or Oscar’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/wooftour

* Win a chance to join Oscar in his hot-air balloon.

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Cape Argus

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