Hope restored by act of kindness to a stray, dying dog

ON THURSDAY night, at about 11pm, I heard the bang of a car smashing into something and the howl of a dog. I looked out and saw a dog tumbling in the middle of Jan Smuts Drive, Crawford. By the time I got outside, two cars had pulled over. The dog was sprawled on the centre line.

The first driver, apparently the one who hit the dog, got into his car and drove off. The second driver stood with the dog while cars, barely slowing, swooshed pass him. Vomit lay at the dog’s mouth and body fluids ran along the centre line.

I told the young man we had to move the animal to the verge.

We comforted the pitbull cross, a bitch, as best we could. It breathed heavily and was initially responsive. When I told the man I wanted to take it to an emergency vet, without hesitating he offered to drive, although he lived in Observatory.

I went home and collected my wallet. When I returned, the dog’s breathing had become laboured. I saw blood leaking from its mouth.

We then knew it was dying, which it did a few minutes later, the stranger and I comforting it all the while. When I thanked him for staying, he brushed it aside.

He told me another dog had been hit by the car too, but there was no sign of it. This morning at 9, I saw a black and white pitbull cross sniffing around the other’s body, then laying next to it. Its hind leg was injured.

It, also a bitch, remained there until the SPCA collected it an hour later. I inspected where it lay and concluded it had remained next to its mate all night, not seeking shelter from the cold and rain.

The culture of our society – one of entitlement, self-interest and greed – has depressed me and made me cynical.

But an act of kindness to a stray, dying dog on a cold night by a stranger far from home, while others swept by obliviously cocooned in their comfort, has given me hope. And what of the second dog staying by its mate all night?

To the young, soft-spoken man in the old white Opel Corsa, thank you. And thank you to the SPCA and Inspector Hendrik for responding quickly.