THE search for Titan is over… and compassionate pet owners who sympathised with his distraught owner, Charlene Louw, will be elated to know this story has a happy ending.
Following his disappearance on September 26 from his home in East Street, the vanished Husky, who was missing for more than a week, was spotted in a field in the North Street area on Wednesday night. Titan’s owner, in her desperate search for the dog, had posted numerous requests for Titan’s safe return on social media. This eventually paid off, as a member of the public, Cornè Coetzee, recognised Titan and reported the missing canine’s whereabouts on social media.
Vryheid Neighbourhood Watch Chairman, Andrè Rheder, who had stopped off at Stegen’s Garage for a cooldrink during his patrol that evening saw the post and called for assistance from the other patrollers for the evening, Gerrie van der Merwe and his wife, Megan. Rheder contacted Charlene’s father and headed up the hill to search for Titan, while Gerrie contacted Charlene and informed her of the discovery.
After a week of worrying and searching, it did not take Charlene and her father long to react to the possibility of finding Titan and they hastily made their way to the hill to meet with the Neighbourhood Watch patrollers who were already in pursuit of the wayward pooch.
When they spotted him, Charlene and her father approached him eagerly, ecstatic to have found him.
“My dad and I ran after him, but he jumped in the Buurtwag bakkie,” says Charlene, as she describes the moment she was reunited with her lost boy. “They helped us search for him.”
With the assistance of the patrolling members of Vryheid Neighbourhood Watch, they managed to get Titan home, reuniting him with his family and putting a smile on the face of a passionate pet owner who never lost hope.
It is possible that, during the time that Titan was missing, he may have been kept by someone as Charlene noticed that his collar had been tightened and his name tag was missing. However, Charlene is just happy to have her boy back, following his week long ordeal.
“My boy is safely back at home,” she writes. “Thank you to every person who helped, donated to the reward money, shared the posts on social media, helped to look for him, prayed for his safe return and just for all the caring and compassion. My heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude…”
And speaking of the reward money, Charlene, as well as the other ladies who contributed to the total amount of R2500, have decided that the reward will be split equally between Cornè Coetzee, who reported on Titan’s whereabouts, and Vryheid Neighbourhood Watch, who went to the trouble of assisting with the search and helping to get Titan back home.
