Illness grounds tour guide mutt
WELL-known to international and local tourists, Stout, a friendly mutt, has been benched from doing what he loves, being a tour guide, as he battles a condition that is affecting his liver and intestines.
The 7-year-old Cape Town Adventure guide has brought joy to hundreds of tourists, travellers, and locals on hikes, trail runs, mountain bike trips and stand-up paddleboard adventures, along with his owner Doug Turvey.
Turvey said the condition is incurable, but could be managed with ongoing treatment and he was trying to raise funds to ensure Stout remained happy and pain-free. “We’re managing it, but he was losing weight as a result of the condition. But now he’s on about 12 different pills and starting to gain weight, which is a good sign. But he still has to get fluids drained from his stomach every 10 days.”
Turvey said he was still battling to get to the bottom of the condition, but was pursuing all avenues as Stout was only 7 and had an impact on many lives. “We worked for a tour company and Stout was one of the legends tourists could book tours with. Sadly, he now has no energy to run or hike on the mountain so that had to end, as did my role as a tour guide, because I don’t have my sidekick, who was the main selling point. I have to go back to the corporate world.”
Turvey added that Stout was a big attraction, especially with international tourists who missed their pets.
“Now he can only take walks for stimulation, nothing too rigorous. It’s like an Olympic athlete put in a wheelchair, he wants to go on but can’t, I can imagine how frustrated he must be.”
Turvey said they had touched the lives of children in townships by going to various communities to teach them about loving animals.
“Stout has done community service in Alex, Soweto and Nieu-Bethesda, where he’s taught children and the owners of animals that a dog can be a respected friend and shouldn’t be wired to a pole outside their homes for protection. This interaction has resulted in an annual dog trick competition in Nieu-Bethesda.”
A Back-a-Buddy campaign is raising funds for Stout’s treatment at www. backabuddy.co.za/stout-the-legend. Updates are posted on Stout’s Facebook and Instagram pages.