Durban - Westville Senior Primary pupils raised R21 054 selling “dog art”, which they drew themselves, to pay for a replacement for Chaka, the police dog who was fatally stabbed while chasing a criminal in October.
His handler, Constable Elliot Mdadane, already has the new dog, named Hugo.
Chaka’s death inspired the school to do something for the K9 dogs “whose lives are on the line to protect us”.
In the first term the school had a bomb scare and the Shongweni dog unit was dispatched.
The school’s art teacher, Sybil Evans, said pupils and staff were evacuated to the sports field for their safety and were scared, but “we were humbled by the bravery of the K9 handlers and their dogs”.
After the scare, Evans started a project to raise funds for K9 dogs.
She asked the pupils to paint pictures of dogs for exhibition at Westville Mall.
“The kids were so happy and when we told their parents, they were also excited because they wanted to appreciate what the dogs and their handlers had done for us. When they went around the school while we were on the field, they put their lives on the line for us,” she said.
Evans said two pupils had each raised more than R2 000 by selling their paintings.
“We were amazed at the support from the public.
“The kids painted the pictures and they loved them, yet they donated them for a good cause,” she said.
Janine Kyle of Friends of the Force, with whom the school had partnered with, said they had initially thought of buying bulletproof protection for the police dogs, but this changed when Chaka died.
Hugo is still to undergo his four-month training.
The year-old Rottweiler was bought from a breeder.
The Mercury