Durban — A dog was rescued in oThongathi after spending at least five days in a sinkhole.
A reaction officer rescued the female dog after it spent at least five days in a sinkhole near the Tongaat Toll Plaza on the N2 on Wednesday.
Reaction Unit South Africa spokesperson Prem Balram said that employees at the toll plaza contacted Rusa at about 12.09pm after they heard a dog barking in an open field next to the freeway.
“On arrival, other employees informed Rusa members that they could hear the dog barking since Saturday. They attempted to locate it without success,” Balram said.
“The reaction officer searched the large field and discovered the canine trapped in a sinkhole measuring approximately 1.5m deep. The officer utilised a ladder and freed the trapped animal.”
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the Specialised Tactical Accident Rescue Team’s (Start Rescue) control room received a call for assistance to help rescue five puppies that had become stuck in a drain in the Pinetown area.
On arrival, the SPCA requested Start Rescue’s assistance to retrieve the five puppies that were stuck about 30m to 40m inside the drain, with one side of the pipe being blocked with sand due to the manhole lid being missing.
Start Rescue members quickly jumped into action with ropes, did an air monitoring to make sure it was a stormwater pipe and safe to enter, and then a member of the team went down into the drain to retrieve all puppies safely. They were then handed over to the SPCA members present.
Around the same time, the Kloof and Highway SPCA reported that field officers Doctor Mthombeni and Eric Simamane responded to reports of a crying dog stuck in a drain in the New Germany area. The dog had been trapped for a week.
Once the drain the dog was heard crying from was located, the field officers established that the closest point to safely retrieve the dog was a connecting drain on the opposite side of the road which ran under the road and would be accessible by the field officers.
The SPCA said that Mthombeni, who is well known for fearlessly climbing up ladders, under houses and down drains, wasted no time getting into the dark and dirty drain calling for the dog with a bowl of food in one hand and a torch in the other as Simamane, calm and composed, waited at the exit to help lift the dog out of what was almost a 2m drop to the ground.
The scared dog used the drain to cross under the road as planned and come towards the team. Once in sight, she hesitantly crept forward towards the food, and Mthombeni was able to pick her up and pass her to Simamane, who was waiting to load her into the back of the vehicle and take her straight to the SPCA clinic.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News