Feral dog Houdini is finally safe
RANDPARK RIDGE – The feral dog which was captured after more than five weeks is finally safe and being rehabilitated.
The story of Houdini, a feral dog which spanned over five weeks, ended in happiness when the animal was safely captured and received the help it needed.
An epic journey to capture the dog started when residents in the community of Randpark Ridge and surrounds tried in vain to catch the stray Labrador but soon realised that the dog was terrified of humans and bolted blindly when a human approached it.
“I named him Houdini – after the world’s greatest escape artist Harry Houdini,” said chairperson of the Bank Road Resident Association (BRRA) Mandy Marshall Mockler. She said their suburb is by Hans Schoeman Street, Rabie Street and the N1 Highway and they couldn’t be in a worse location when trying to capture a lost and terrified dog. “If it bolts onto one of these main arterial roads in fear, it could be hit by a car or cause a terrible vehicle accident if a motorist swerved to avoid hitting it,” she said.
That’s when she decided to call in the professionals to assist them to capture the terrified dog.
Thys Mulder, an expert trapper and trap designer and manufacturer, was the first person to offer his assistance at no charge. He arrived on scene with a dog trap on January 19.
He put the trap in the Rhema grounds, placed delicious bait food in the trap and set the trap door. “We all waited in great anticipation that night. The next morning a resident contacted me to inform me that he had seen the dog in the trap and he lifted the trap door in error and the dog escaped,” she said.
After Houdini escaped the trap, they were not able to lure him back into a trap, no matter what they baited it with.
“Biltong, liver, pilchards, KFC, dry wors, Russian sausage, boerewors – you name it we tried it. We changed the location of the trap and also changed the type of trap to a baboon trap which looks different to the original trap. We even camouflaged it,” she explained.
After two weeks of Houdini refusing to enter the new trap, Mulder and Marshall Mockler decided that this capture had changed from a normal domestic dog capture to a typical wildlife type of capture.
She and other residents in the suburbs, Nick Guilherme and Nicolene Cloete, monitored their security cameras every night all night for three weeks until they have a clear picture of Houdini’s routine and movements.
With all the information at hand, they called Dirk Engelbrecht, the CEO of Wild Serve. He agreed to assist Houdini and the community at no charge.
He then agreed that it was no longer just a normal dog capture. Houdini was becoming more feral each passing day and it was only a matter of time before he was injured by a vehicle while crossing busy roads.
Engelbrecht suggested they build a large enclosure inside the Rhema premises in order to feed Houdini inside the enclosure and get him comfortable with the large fenced space and once he was comfortable eating in the enclosure, then they instal the trap doors.
On February 1, they put a plea out to the greater Bromhof, Boskruin and Randpark Ridge community for assistance in raising funds for the materials needed to build the enclosures. “The response was overwhelming and within 24 hours we had raised a bit more than was originally needed,” she said.
Within two days of receiving the funds, they started the first build and by 20:00 on February 5 they had completed the second build. The dog was finally captured on February 9 with additional assistance of Dr Michael Sutton from the Muldersdrift Animal Clinic.
“We are in need of additional funds to cover Thys’s medical expenses and the vet bill,” she said.
Donations can be made on the BRRA account number.
For details, contact Mandy Marshall Mockler on 073 363 8613.
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