Hikers help rescue ‘Little Falls’ – the dog caught in an illegal snare

Garith Gouws was hiking through the Little Falls Nature Reserve with his brother, Cameron, looking for caves in the area. While exploring a cavern on the cliff, the pair spotted a dog below them.

Also read: Search and rescue members team up to save dog caught in snare

“The dog didn’t try get up, bark or run away so it was a bit worrying. I called my girlfriend, Lauren, and we agreed that we need to get down to the dog and make sure it is okay,” Garith elaborated.

“I can’t even explain it, but we were meant to find that dog. The universe wanted us to be there at that time on that day. So many things happened by chance, leading us to the dog. It was unreal,” he added.

Also read: Roaming dogs rescued by caring security officer

They couldn’t climb straight down to where the dog was sitting so the brothers made their way back on top of the mountain and then trekked a route down to the dog.

“We had to cross a waterfall of sewage flowing down from a manhole at the top of the mountain,” Garith exclaimed.

Cameron was the first one to find the dog and he immediately saw the snare. According to Garith, Cameron has spent the past three years living in the mountains of Mbombela and has freed many animals from snares and removed hundreds of snares from the bush.

“I called one of my clients, Jonathan Martin, who assists with Fire Search and Rescue at Community Group Firefighters Association (CGFA). Jonathan made contact with the other rescue groups who were involved,” he explained that while they were waiting for help, Cameron comforted the dog, gave him water and kept the swarm of flies off of the dog’s leg.

“We waited for about an hour for help to arrive. It wasn’t easy for help to find us as we were in such a remote part of the park, concealed from the top of the mountain – where help was looking for us. Cameron was with the dog and I was answering phone call after phone call trying to locate the rescuers,” Garith elaborated.

During this time Cameron found and cleared a way down to the bottom of the mountain for when help arrived.
“Once the Police’s Search and Rescue’s K9 Unit arrived they started to bandage up the dog with the most care. Cameron and I led the officers down the makeshift trail and we all helped to get the dog down safely. The Roodepoort SPCA was waiting at the bottom of the mountain to the receive the dog,” Garith concluded.

The German Shepherd mix, lovingly named ‘Little Falls’ by his rescuers, was taken to the vet to tend to its injuries.