Ingrid de Storie, co-founder of 1 Kennel at a Time, looks on as Duchess is reunited with her owners, Steven and Colleen May.
Duchess, a mixed, brown pit bull, has been reunited with her family in Ocean View after being missing for more than a month.
Her owner, Colleen May, said Duchess and the family’s other dog, Shiesty, had jumped the fence of their property on Tuesday October 8.
She said they had done so several times before but had always been found soon afterwards.
The following day, her husband, Steven, had driven around the area and had gone to all the places where they had been previously found but there had been no sign of them.
Ms May said reports indicated that Duchess had been seen outside Chapman’s Bay Estate, but when Mr May arrived there, she was gone.
He had asked at the estates on Ou Kaapseweg and looked on the mountainside near Clovelly and Silvermine with no luck.
Then, a few days after their disappearance, his car went in for repairs and he did not have transport to continue the search.
On Monday October 14, they asked Ingrid de Storie, co-founder of 1 Kennel at a Time, an animal welfare organisation in Ocean View, for help.
Ms May said that up until that point, they had been reluctant to post on social media, fearing a break-in if people knew their dogs were missing.
In the meantime, Shiesty had been found in Capri Village and safely reunited with his owners, but Duchess was still missing.
Trijntje de Jonge, a volunteer at 1 Kennel at a Time, posted about Duchess being missing on social media and the community reached out to help.
A good Samaritan helped in the search for Duchess and organised an animal communicator who told Ms May that Duchess was in an area where she had access to water and where there was long grass or reeds.
She also said that Duchess had seen a man walking along a dusty road and there was a smell of horse manure.
Ms May said the communicator told Duchess that should she see a friendly person, she should approach them and let them rescue her.
Ms De Jonge said that on Saturday November 9 she had seen on the Tears: Lost and Found Facebook Page that a dog that looked like Duchess had been found, and she had immediately called Ms May.
Ms May said a woman had found Duchess on the Fish Hoek sports fields on Friday November 8, and had taken her to Tears.
“We were so relieved that she was found. She had lost a lot of weight and was riddled with ticks and fleas but was very happy to see us,” said Ms May, adding that Duchess was her old self again a day after returning home.
“I am very grateful to the community and all the parties involved,” she said.