Owners reunited with beloved dog after 22 days

The efforts of local animal lovers in Benoni made it possible for Monster to be found.

January 13, 2022

Ntombikayise Sibeko 2 minutes read

Relieved at last that they've found their beloved Monster is Jessica and Ettien Smit.

The Smit family of Mowbray Avenue, Western Extension, is breathing a sigh of relief after their dog was recently found after it went missing for 22 days.

Monster, a four-year-old Jack Russell-cross, went missing on December 13 when he escaped through a hole in the fence when his owners left the house.

According to Jessica Smit, when they came back about 15 minutes later, they got suspicious when they didn’t see Monster because he would always bark excitingly when he saw them pulling into the driveway.

“We searched the house but he was nowhere to be found. Discovering that he had gone missing, we were surprised how he actually got out because it was the first time this had happened.

“We looked for him and put an appeal on Facebook. The next day, while we were at The Animal Guardians rescue centre looking for him, we got a notification that he had been spotted in Kempston Avenue.
“When we got there, there was no sign of Monster. I continued posting on various platforms and also a WhatsApp group called Monster was created to spread the word,” she explained.

Seen here are some of the people who assisted the Smit family to find Monster when he went missing on December 13. They are (from left) Leon Crouse, Sherry-Lee Grobler, Debbie Noble, Linda Meyer and Ettien Smit. Showing affection to his owner, Jessica Smit, is Monster.

Jessica, who said the family also has three other dogs, said community spirit came to the fore with members sharing the post to their friends and family, as well as going out to search for Monster.

As a result of the appeals on social media, two women from the UK even sponsored money to rope in the services of the Healthy Hound K9 search unit, but unfortunately, this didn’t yield results.

Another good Samaritan Melissa Rautenbach reached out to the family by putting up reward money.

Breakthrough
Nitro Med and CMS paramedics, Leon Crouse and Sherry-Lee Grobler, who are also pet lovers, said that on the morning of January 3 a member of the WhatsApp group, Debbie Noble, said she had spotted Monster around St Francis College along Howard Avenue.

Sherry-Lee said later that day just after 19:30 while driving past one of the main gates at the school, they spotted Monster.

“We got out of the vehicle and called him but he ran away frightened. I then sent a message to Jessica letting her know that we’ve just spotted Monster.
“When Jessica and her husband Ettien arrived we asked the caretaker at the school to open the gate and we started looking for him,” she said.

Nitro Med Emergency Medical Services personnel Leon Crouse and Sherry-Lee Grobler were the first people to arrive at St Francis College where Monster was spotted.

Jessica said when Monster was found he was very skinny, hungry and thirsty.

She said they are grateful to the caretaker who was friendly enough to open the gate for them because if he didn’t they wouldn’t have found their beloved Monster.

“After 22 days of sleepless nights, we are happy that Monster is back home. The community showed us so much support, which was heart-warming.

“We would like to extend our appreciation to Cassandra Duarte, Kim Meyer, Tamara Mackenzie, Mandy Davidow, Diane Lavis, Tammy Katja Bray, MJ, Bobby as well as everyone who played a role in finding Monster,” said Jessica.