Cape Town - Trapped in the bush behind a schoolyard, it looked like certain death for Gina. The greyhound had been there for two weeks, howling for help as she tried to scramble out. But it was hopeless. Emaciated and exposed to the elements, she was stuck.
Luckily, a tired Khayelitsha resident’s curiosity was piqued – and his sleep was interrupted – by the dog’s howling.
“For two weeks I’d been hearing terrible screaming at night,” said Teddy Sambu.
“I thought it was the neighbour’s cat and I got more annoyed every day. It makes me angry when people do not look after their pets.”
His investigations revealed nothing, and Sambu couldn’t track down the source of the noise. That was until Mandela Day when he decided to climb on to the roof of his house to get a better view.
“I saw a large dog that had got itself stuck between the bushes behind a schoolyard. He could not move. The poor dog had been stuck there for 14 days.”
The Woolworths photographer called in some friends and together they made their way to towards the yard. They lowered ropes, looping them around Gina’s head and body to hoist her up. It was a struggle, but they eventually managed to free her.
Mdzananda Animal Clinic spokeswoman Marcelle van Zyl said the dog arrived at their Khayelitsha clinic that afternoon.
“She was extremely scared and very skinny. She had spent all that time stuck in the rain and cold without any food.” But the prognosis was good.
“She just needed a lot of love to restore her spirits as well as some good nutrition,” said Van Zyl.
Gina is now in foster care with Annelie de Wet in Rosebank.
Van Zyl thanked Sambu for his rescue. “There are many good people in Khayelitsha who really care about animals. They are our eyes and ears in places we can’t always reach.”
Cape Argus