“Everything leading up to having our beloved pet returned to us is like a miracle – I believe there was some divine intervention involved.”
These were the words of a grateful Jan Pietersen, after he and his family were reunited with their lost dog. “If it were not for the article in the Record, we would probably still be looking for her,” he said.
He added that they were heartbroken when they could not find their dog anywhere on their property and said, “Hanna has been with us for a long time, and is quite an old girl. I was very worried when I arrived home one afternoon, and she was nowhere to be found. I immediately searched our property, because I thought she might have died, but when I could not find her we asked all our neighbours if they had not seen her. We also drove through the whole neighbourhood, searching for her.”
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Pietersen said that he never gave up hope, because he believed that she would return somehow. “I kept believing that she might find her way back home, and even got up during the night if the other dogs barked, to peek through the window and see if it was not Hanna standing at the gate,” Pietersen said.
Imagine his surprise when he received a Whatsapp message from his domestic worker at home, with a photo of the newspaper article, asking if the dog mentioned in the article was not Hanna, and said, “When I saw the photo, I was sure that it was Hanna, and immediately contacted Cora Bailey from Claw.”
The Pietersen’s dog was confiscated by Cora and another volunteer from Community Led Animal Welfare (Claw) from a man who was trying to sell her. They were alerted by a member of the public, and when they investigated, they found a terrified and thirsty dog tethered to a man on the sidewalk.
“We could see that the dog, which looked like a Border collie/ Shepherd cross, was well looked after and must have come from a loving home. That is why we kept her safe and appealed to the community to help us find her owners,” Cora said.
Pietersen made arrangements with Claw to pick up Hanna and described the happy reunion. “At first, she was a bit hesitant to come to us, but then she wagged her tail and ran to us. When I opened the door to get her in the car, she gave me a little nip, as if to ask, ‘What took you so long?'”
He concluded by thanking Claw, as well as the community, for the role they played in Hanna’s rescue and return, and said “This incident left our whole family traumatised, and if it wasn’t for the caring volunteers, our story could have had a different ending. It was an eye-opener for me, as I did not realise what a huge contribution Claw made in the community. I will definitely try my best to help and support them where I can, even if it is just something small – every little bit helps and can add value.”
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