According to the investigating officer, WO Cindy Botha, she received a call from a man who had seen Tiger in a yard in Blyvoor while going there to search for his own dog.
According to Tiger’s owner, Ms Kea Makhunye, she and her three children, Butle (3), Rethabile (8) and Mpumi (14) have been inconsolable since Tiger disappeared on 8 July. They were overjoyed when they heard the news.
Someone cut the fence while Ms Makhunye was at work and the children were asleep. They stole Tiger from the yard.
“I have been crying since he disappeared. Some people do not understand this but he is like a child to me,” she says.
Ms Makhunye went to Blyvoor with the police to identify Tiger. She started crying all over again when she saw him and the condition he was in. It looked as if someone had scalded him on the side of his head and he had bite marks on his face and body. Although he was only gone for a week and a half, he was thin and could not stop eating when he got home.
“He was chained to a washing line and there was no shelter for him,” she adds.
She says the children could not believe he was back, especially Mpumi, who looks after and feeds Tiger. “He never cries, but he did when he saw Tiger again. He sat at the kennel for more than an hour,” she said.
Although Tiger was visibly traumatised by the incident, he was back to his old self by Tuesday.
“I want to thank everyone who helped to get him back. You do not know how much this means to us,” says Mrs Makhunye.
The police say they found Tiger in the yard of a minor who has previously been apprehended for stealing dogs for dogfighting.
“This is a massive problem in Carletonville. Anyone who adopts a dog, especially a breed that could potentially be a fighter, like a bull terrier, pit bull or Rottweiler, must watch their pet like they would their child. These people stop at nothing to steal dogs,” says the inspector of the Carletonville SPCA, Mr D.J. White.
He notes that the SPCA returned a stolen pit bull to its rightful owner in Khutsong when the matter went to court. Although this dog was not microchipped, which assists in such cases, the owner could show a photograph of his dog.
