Meet Ubuntu!

His last owner called him Ladin, but it’s safe to say his last owner can go F%#* himself..anyway…

Whilst aimlessly trawling Facebook as we do, there was a picture of Ubuntu laying in the dirt of of Gugulethu with the caption:

“Township life- in every corner there’s a cruel dog!”

There was a lot of cruelty in that picture but it had nothing to do with the dog! 

A few Facebook messages later and voila- a rendezvous on Long St- me & three cool guys from Gugulethu who’ve convinced the ‘owner’ to let his dog drive off into my little ginger arms.

A quick vet check up and Ubuntu is pronounced healthy (as far as a half starved, dehydrated, mange ridden dog can be).

I took him home and he ate, I even got a tail wag! Then he went and hid in my garden in a shivering ball to sleep. Didn’t enter his head to come into the warmth.

An hour, half a chicken and some enthusiastic lead work later I finally convinced him to come in from the cold!

Amazingly I’d had two offers of foster homes before I’d even got Ubuntu to the vets, which was an answer to prayer as DARG was closed due to a Distemper outbreak & I was having to head to the UK for a visa renewal (thanks Zuma!) I chose the Barry family- simply as they were lovely and had offered first! ?

My original post had asked for financial help too, something I hate doing but after 8 months of rescue my finances were dead beat, my small but fierce following on ‘DARG Foster Mom’ stepped right up & saved the day though: R2750 in two days. Medical costs covered!

The morning after the rescue I took Ubuntu past another vets, to get a second opinion and pick up his Mange medicine. Curtly I was told, “I hope you told this new family he’s never going to be a fluffy puppy!”

“….well you dont say Sherlock?!” Sometimes you find cold hearts in the oddest of places! 

I was going straight from this charmer to drop the seriously shut down Ubuntu to the Barry’s- I was now worried over the reaction he would get. He was crawling with fleas and ticks, smelled like death and his farts could have knocked out a small town (deworming has lovely side effects- his poo looked like an escaped extra from ‘Alien’).

The Barry’s had sent a text saying they were excited to meet him- would they turn their nose up like the vet had?! 

The moment had arrived, the Barry children came out to greet me, opened the back door of the car and….well to see how the story unfolds watch the video above.