After a lengthy nine-day search, a social media rescue campaign and a R2,000 reward, Tucker, who went missing mere hours after arriving at his new home, has been found.
The Africanis mixed breed dog was found in Hemingways, despite going missing in Vincent Heights. His owner, Linda Bowman, expressed her joy and excitement at having her dog back home.
“I am so happy he’s been found and back home. I was terrified. More than anything, I was feeling very guilty because he must have gotten out while I was sleeping.
“I am so grateful to the community because people have been bringing food and they have been searching and helping. Everyone has joined to help find Tucker,” Bowman said.
According to Bowman, she adopted Tucker from Vaal Pets, after he was rescued from a fire at his previous shelter.
Bowman believes that Tucker still suffers from trauma and that resulted in him being afraid of his new surroundings and running away.
Diane Logie, pet detective and owner of Healthy Hound Missing Pet Search and Rescue, travelled all the way from Johannesburg to assist with finding Tucker.
“We immediately started our search as soon as we arrived.
“The dogs got Tucker’s scent from his leash and harness. And were able to track him using that. I have three search and rescue dogs with me.
“One of them is the first rescue dog in the country with a 93% success rate. We set up a camera in the bushes in the back of the house, we didn’t catch him, but we did catch a water mongoose,” Logie said.
A call came through early on Tuesday morning, indicating that Tucker was seen along Western Avenue.
Bowman and other community members went out to search for him. When she saw him, Bowman called out for him and he came running to her immediately, despite barely being familiar with her.
The community of East London rallied behind Bowman during this time.
A WhatsApp group was created to keep up with updates about Tucker’s rescue mission and a total of R13,000 was raised to cover search and rescue mission costs.
“I don’t even know who to give the reward to because so many people joined the search,” Bowman said.
