Pictures of my pet/s

[SandyB]

Dalene .. just got back from last dinner with  pauline ..  Paul taking her to airport tomorow ...  sad to see her  go .. we not had enough time after coming back ...  and yes my tasmanian full  of her usual shit   cuqui  ..  such a pleasure to have her back .. even Tina glad to  have her back ...

[Skinny]

 
god mother and thanks to Saint Anthony. He works a treat. So glad madam is back.

Keep her safe and sound
K

[SandyB]

 We Just finished  a nice supper of lamb shank with veg and sweet taters .. the two  dogchilds are now contentedly chewing on their bones ,,,  I observe the Morag getting ready for the tooth    .. one tooth has a bit of bleeding .. and she chewing like crazy on her  one toy ..
I had my chance to  repay the universe  and powers of good for the return of Morag this afternoon .. on the way home turned into my street  and observed this terrier creature looking very confused trying to cross the road .. put on emergency flashers  and stop to halt  the madmen .. hoot  hoot !!  ... finger  ...  "f**k you  moron .. do you make it your life mission to try run poor innocent animals over ?? " ..  anyhow i keep an eye  as i drive to my house ..  see she now trying to cross Roodebloem road .. more lunatics  speeding there .. so i park  and as i walk   and  pray that she will not be panic stricken and not come to me .. observe one or two pedestrians try to engage her .. she spooks .. so i get to within  10 meters of her  and  go sit down on the pavement crosslegged  and call to her ..  she turns around and flies toward me ..  straight into  my arms ,, my prayer is answered .. I pick her up and take her to my car .. she got a tag on ..  phone the number .. its SPCA after hours .. I then phone my vet ..  they reluctant   to take  in a night boarder ..    I insist .. I am a long standing customer of 28 years ..  its the new bylaw .. barking dogs .. selfish  Sea Point residents .. i quote they most probably have their  pets vocal cords cut ..  and that i know  interesting  people with baseball bats that do knees  if they have any  crap .. anyhow this  mutt a sweet  quiet  girl with a lovely smile  and that trusting look on her dial .. pretty sure she grateful  to just be feeling safe ..  throughout the journey to vets premises she just sits and looks at me smiling and then asks for the window to be  wound down a bit so that she can  sniff  outside air ..   got to vet  they scanned her .. she microchipped  and very recently spayed  so finding the owners will be a cynch but  only in the morning  when SPCA office open ..  vet thanks me profusely for saving a dogchilds life .. she will definitely be reunited with her  family in the Morning .. they will phone me to let me know ..   

[Florrie van Zyl (Muir)]

Sandy, if only the world was full of more people like you.

[Bertie Horak]

  Sandy!  You really an angel!
Maybe the poor girl was scared away from home by fire crackers.  I heard quite a lot last nite in my area.  Fortunately my 3 are not scared at fireworks.  I put on nice music, and talk in a calming voice, while making sure they understand it's nothing to be scared of.  Tigger actually goes outside to watch the "rockets" - he loves noise!  I'm lucky I suppose.

[Delia]

Sandy, yes - the Universe has a wonderful way of balancing things out, doesn't it..........how awesome that you saw the pup and she will be reunited with her family.  Lucky pup to cross your path...........it breaks my heart to think about (never mind see) animals roaming around lost and bewildered.  I've stopped a couple of times in peak hour traffic myself to try and get a clearly lost dog into my car, even doing your stunt of sitting down and calling it but they've always run off in fright with me left standing on the side of the road looking like a drowned rat from the rain, heart crying with compassion for that poor animal too scared to trust, and then absolute anger & blood lust at whoever broke the trust in that proor wretched creature................but you know what i struggle with most..........sometimes you can clearly see that a dog is lost just by its panicky bewildered look but sometimes when they're just strolling down road, i never know if it's just gone for a walk around the neighbourhood and knows its way home again or if it's genuinely lost........then i think, if it's just gone for a walk and making it's way home later, what if i pick it up, take it to the vet and it lands up at the SPCA only for no-one to claim it due to no collar with name tag or microchip and it gets put down.......all unnecessarily 'cos it was actually just going out for a sniff here and there before going home again and here i come along thinking i'm rescuing it meantime i'm actually signing it's death warrant.............i never know with those cases...........

[SandyB]

Mmm  that  double  edged sword ..  I always base my decision on  behaviour ..  normally  slight to extreme panic  .  sniffing  backwards and forwards as if to try pick up scent  .. looking  around . trying to recognise  places  even familiar people ..

the   streetwise  gentlemen  and  ladies  of the road are normally another story . they  walk with  confidence .. will either engage  you  in a  friendly way  or  ignore  you  as they on mission .. so it might be a   " oh hello  ,,  ok  me off now   theres  some  fun  down the road   ciao  "
but a   difficult  call  yes ..

[Delia]

Thanks sandy, will remember your pointers.  Love your description of the street wise ones - had an image of something out of Lady & the Tramp in my head...........

I did have the awesome honour of reuniting an old lady with her owners a year ago - on my birthday in fact - i saw a dog from my office window wandering down the railway line - i work in paarden eiland along marine drive, my office looks out over the bay & harbour with the railway line running parallel to marine drive - anyway, i run down to the ground floor, out the front door, over the road, squeeze through the fence and onto the tracks calling the dog, she just carries on trotting along, not even an ear turns in my direction.  when i finally catch up with her and only when i get in front of her does she register that i'm there. i pick her up, she snuggles into my arms, shaking like a leaf, she's panting like crazy, i take her back to our offices, give her water which she lapped up like there was no tomorrow, made her comfy in my office and took her home at lunch time. Made her comfortable in my room on some blankets with food and water and when i came home after work she was sleeping contentedly.  I was actually going to keep her - thought the universe had sent me a present for my b'day - but my conscience wouldn't stop with "what if it was your dog that was lost, you would want whoever found her to advertise"........which is what i did - i thought if i don't find the owner then i'll  keep her but try I must. I phoned all the vets in the area and 2 days later i got a call from one of them in Table View........i took the dog around to the owners that evening and the reunion had me in tears.  It was so touching to witness the love & happiness from both sides. When the mom had finished hugging the poor thing almost to death, she put her down and the dog ran straight to her basket, flopped down among all her chewy toys and turned to grin at us all with a sparkle in her eyes which belied her age. The mom, daughter and I sat and chatted - they obviously wanted to know the ins and outs of where i found her, etc.  Turns out the dog's name was Tossie, she's about 15 years old, deaf and half blind - their gate had been left open by the rubbish collection guys, she must've wondered into the park across the road and probably followed the bergies around who always hang out in the park. They had obviously gone off in one direction somewhere along the way leaving her to fend for herself.  How she managed to walk from Table View to Paarden Eiland  in her state without being knocked over by a car is a miracle - her angel was obviously watching over her.

So yes, good things do happen sometimes and it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside knowing that a beloved pet was home where she belongs able to carry on with her golden years surrounded by the love and care all animals deserve.

[Bertie Horak]

@ Delia - Just like Sandy  - YOU ANGEL TOO!
Wonderful story, makes one feel so good.  Don't think she would've made it much further, being deaf and half blind.  So much sorrow saved, and happiness brought. 
Once again,  Delia!

[SandyB]

Good one Delia .. yes and the lady and tramp pointers are true .. or  dogs on a mission .. will relate the story of my Patches  soon  just after i moved to CT in 1980 ..  Richard opperman will have some input  there as well .. got dinner  guests soon so .. off to the kitchen ..

[Lance Olivier]

About a year ago I went to the Shoprite/Checkers Centre in Parow one rainy Sunday morning and in the parking lot I could hear a cat meowing. I started to try and trace where the sound was coming from, as under the awnings the sound tends to echo. Some other people helped in the search, looking in drains, etc. Eventually these people left and I managed to trace the sound to a specific car. I went into the Centre and asked management to call the owners of the car. The owners of the car arrived and I requested them to open the bonnet of their car. Lo and Behold there was the cat, in a good looking condition, but very disorientated and obviously scared. The owners of the car said the cat did not belong to them and weren't very interested in the fate of the animal. I therefore thought to myself, OK Sunday (our dogs are not cat friendly so therefore home is not an option) no other alternative but the SPCA. Put cat in car and drive to SPCA Grassy Park with cat at the foot pedals and on my lap most of the way. The cat was obviously used to people as it was not aggressive or scared. I can only think that possibly one of the cars owners neighbours cats had hitched a ride.

[Delia]

On a lighter note, away from the heartache of lost pets............i just want to share something that always brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart.........with my awesome sweeping view of the bay/harbour from my office, i often see people walking their dogs along the stretch between the railway line and the low wall in front of the beach...........every now and again they duck onto the beach where there's a break in the wall...............there is one particular guy that i see at least once a week with his two dogs - the one is a black labbie and the other looks like a mixture between a collie and an alsation..........as all dog lovers know, labbies are such happy dogs, always a smile on their face and tail wagging like crazy......this one runs along sniffing all over, can't get enough, the excitement obvious over and above his normal happy nature............the other one, the mixture collie/alsation, has an obsession about having something in its mouth, be it a piece of wood, plastic or whatever he can find along the way.........the one day all he must've been able to find was a broken plastic bucket........there he was running along with this bucket in his mouth and from my angle it looked hysterical 'cos his head was hidden behind the bucket and all i could see was this bucket with a body attached to it running along in excitement still trying to sniff everything on the ground.........i almost collapsed with laughter when i saw the scene..............i've come to look forward to seeing what he's going to have in his mouth each time.

[Bertie Horak]

  Delia.  Great that you have a window to look out of, and not just four walls in an air-conditioned box!

[Delia]

Yeah Bertie - i am truly grateful for my view - i hate being trapped in an office as it is, being an outdoorsy type, so while i have to be here for now, i feel blessed that i'm "almost" outside with glass all around me and not brick walls. When i'm feeling stressed from the day's events, i walk 5 steps out onto our balcony for a smoke break and just enjoy the sight and smell of the ocean a stone's throw away - all my worries & stress melt away and i feel refreshed to tackle the next round. 

You right, 

I try my best to constantly live my motto of "don't moan about what i don't have and be grateful for what i do have".......

[SandyB]

THE TOOTH    HAS NOW MOVED IN ..
The Morag as per the vets  words  at about 5 months old the  sharp needles will start to go .. well she a bit early .. appetite went a bit ,, tummy a bit upset .. noticed bottom jaw inscisors , a new set  sprouting  on the inside  of jaw  ,, well the first of the bottom jaw inscisors has just  dropped out .. a bit gappy but the new one  well on its way ..  did lamb shank again tonight .. so they got bones .. she chewing gingerly  cos the other teeth are most probably loosening up ..
Worst is tonight is Guy Fawks night ,, my babies  secure in the home ..  but many will tonight lose their pets when they spook .. Tina normally unperturbed .. Morag just joins in the barking when Tina responds to the noise .. they should ultimately ban the fireworks ..
i must admit that animals can become conditioned to noise .. at the major temples in Thailand they have huge chimney efforts in which people set off  crackers to  ask for good luck or drive off evil spirits .. the dogs and cats that live at the temple ( all collared and in reasonable condition ) are totally unmoved by the  rata tat tat of the crackers going off ...