Durban – It has been eight days since K9 officer Dora ran out of her kennel at feeding time and she is still missing.
Dora’s handler, Constable Siphamadla Nyameka, said he was not coping well with the dog’s disappearance.
“I’m not coping. It’s not even easy to sleep.”
“She doesn’t eat any food. She eats conditioning food because she is underweight. I also have to clean her ears twice a week because she has a skin problem,” Nyameka said.
“Now I’m thinking about what condition she is in because today (Tuesday) is the eighth day she has been missing. I’m wondering what she is eating and how her ears are.”
Nyameka said he had been Dora’s handler since 2018.
Last Friday, Eastern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Kaya Matola-Mvanyashe said the Mthatha K9 unit was appealing to the community to help them find their four-legged colleague, who ran off on Monday, August 22.
Matola-Mvanyashe said it was alleged that at about 6pm that day, as Dora’s kennel door was being opened so she could be fed, she ran out.
Her handler, Nyameka, was not present at the time.
Matola-Mvanyashe said Dora was a very energetic dog.
“Dora is only a month at the unit. She was transferred from Maluti and is new to the area. She is a 6-year-old Belgian shepherd,” Matola-Mvanyashe said.
Anyone who can help her worried colleagues to find her or has spotted a similar-looking dog in the area is asked to urgently contact Captain Gladstone Mkentane at 082 457 3643 or her handler, Constable Siphamadla Nyameka, at 071 895 0596.
Daily News