Marcelle van Heerden from Zwavelpoort:
Lion ran away from his home at Kanana informal settlement, presumably after the New Year’s Eve fireworks. His owner, Russia Mampane, let me know after he had looked for him and could not find him. We presumed the worst.

The open veld and vast distances out around Kanana are beautiful, but make you wonder where a dog could hide. I went to our local veterinary practice, Swavelpoort Animal Hospital, and Joseph Chikwari at the reception desk forwarded me a photo of . . . yes, it was Lion!

Our Lion having a check-up with dr Janes Wagner and Joseph Chikwari,
the man who connected us all

This photo was sent out on a community WhatsApp group, ‘Lost Animals MZT’, by a wonderful person, Marinda Eloff from Ocean Marine Village on the Boschkop Road. We could not believe our eyes as Lion was a huge distance from Kanana and recuperating with food and water in the yard at Ocean Marine Village near Kitty Hawk Airfield.

Lion has a microchip, but we didn’t have to go that far due to the care a few lovely people took to get us all connected. We got Lion back to Russia Mampane after a nice bath, a vet check-up where all his vaccines were also updated and I now have a new and wonderful friend in Marinda.