Here are the facts

Dr Le-anne Kleynhans of the Bromhof Veterinary Clinic writes:

I would like to set the record straight in the letter, Bring back my dog.

On 6 July a man arrived with an Alsatian he had found running in the road and enquired if we had heard of a dog that had gone missing. We had not but immediately scanned the dog in his car to check for a microchip as it was a very busy morning. She had a microchip and we immediately called the owner.

The owner of the dog was incredibly rude to my receptionist. She did not even know her dog was missing and said she will not come and collect the dog as last time we made her pay a boarding fee as the dog often goes missing and has previously been brought here. The dog had been left here overnight on a previous occasion also when brought in as a stray.

She told my receptionist to tell the man to put her dog back in the street and let it find its way home. Our receptionist’s response was that it was not an option as the dog could get hit by a car; the woman hung up the phone on her. The gentleman, who had overheard the conversation, was fuming and said there is no way he would do that to a dog as that is very irresponsible pet ownership.

He then left the clinic without leaving his details. I would like to emphasize that even though it is not our responsibility to keep a stray dog we have never turned one away and will always agree to keep any stray brought to us and try to find its owner. Many vet practices do not even accept strays and will send the animal straight to the SPCA.

We would like to encourage all pet owners have their animals micro-chipped by their vet so that when they go missing they can be easily reunited. We take in about two strays a week and the majority has no form of identification.

No chip and no collar make it very difficult to find an owner.