Success Stories

Tommy & Tina 

 

I still cry for Tommy and I have a tattoo of him on my arm. Tommy will never be forgotten - Diane

 

We got a call to go to the karoo to look for 2 dogs who had disappeared. Diane and a colleague traveled the 17hrs and started searching within 72hrs of the dogs going missing. The farm they went missing from is 30min from the nearest small town and has no water and almost no shade. Time was of the essence so the search started immediately. The team searched as long as they could but eventually had to retreat. As the team were settling in for a short nap, the dogs went wild!!! They got up and there was Tina!!! Diane and the owners mobilized and went in search of Tommy. Whilst out, they discovered that the search had stopped CLOSE to Tina and she had used her last energy to follow them home. She would have been found in the morning but she did not know that. She was tired.

 

Diane spent all night searching for Tommy alone in the karoo wilderness, using her skills gained in SAR and conservation to navigate. At one point she heard a noise and stopped. She checked her surroundings and heard the noise again. Then... she realized: it was the poop bag on her bag!! She had gotten such a fright from a packet. Massive laugh. Bag removed, search continued. Seeing only kudu in the distance, nothing else was seen and soon she started feeling the starkness and awe of the area and knew that this was going to be the hardest search yet. 

 

For the next 8 days, Diane went out in the mornings with Blue and Axl to track and search. In the afternoons she would search alone and at night she took the bakkie to search. During this time, the search changed from searching for him alive to searching for a body. After days of searching the entire property, the search was called off and Tommy was declared presumed dead. To date, there has been no sign of him. 

 

Tina took days to recover. We had paw butter for her feet as well as electrolytes to assist her. It took her 3 days before she could walk comfortably again. She recovered fully from her ordeal and as a team we thank Axl and Blue for their work. 

 

Tommy will never be forgotten. Rest in peace sweet boy.  

 

Sheba - Gone for 6 weeks and found

 

When Sheba went missing the owners asked us to assist and we used Zizou for this one. We pick the right dog for the job and we knew Z was the one for this one!!

 

Zizou has not worked a lot of late but we have been doing lots of training with her and knew she was on form so she got picked. Zizou tracked through some interesting areas, past other cats and dogs and to an area where she gave a signature indication of hers indicating a loss of scent. We did not give up and got out there with posters. We were going to get this girl home!!! 

 

We got a lead saying someone had seen her near the Dalpark Hospital so James and Diane headed out there and searched. Nothing. No sign. They left there feeling sad. But... they did discover a coffee shop across from the hospital that sells amazing bacon and egg rolls... but... food did not solve the annoying feeling that Sheba was close.

 

Then: 2 weeks later there was a sighting and the team hit the ground running!! Diane got out and using her tracking skills soon spotted signs that Sheba was near. Once Mom and Dad arrived, Diane and James headed to the veld by the cement factory where they were certain she was hiding. Diane's tracking knowledge paid off and there was Sheba. Mom and Dad were called in and Diane, James and Charlotte assisted with the recovery. Check out our social media for a video of this amazing story!!

 

From what Sheba's mom can work out, Sheba was taken from the veld and to a home in Dalpark where the sighting was. (Thank you to the young lady who notified us of Sheba being there.) When we went in, we created pressure for the person with her and it appears she was dropped in the industrial area where she was spotted (a big thanks to the person who contacted us).

 

Diane and James did not give up on this and never do. Every pet becomes part of our family and we will not stop looking for them.

Loki  

 

We have so many cat search stories to choose from but this one was a recent one and a nice one so gets chosen as one of our favorites....

 

Axl and Cairo went in search of this little one and tracked him to a veld near the house. Both dogs gave a stunning proximity alert and we knew this cat was CLOSE!!! The cat parents braved the blackjack veld and there he was!! Sometimes as a handler you still get surprised at how good the dogs are and this was one of those cases. Fortunately Loki is a real mischief and is not afraid of dogs so did not dart off when we got close as many cats do.

 

 

Finding Fred 

 

Fred is another favorite find - honestly, every find is a favorite and we will try fill this page with as many finds as we can but.... enough waffle and here is more about Fred:

 

We had done 2 searches for Fred and he evaded us on both searches despite us knowing we were close. On the 3rd search, Axl found him!! Axl had a stunning walkup find where we are sure Axl told him how much trouble he is going to be in with his mom!! He was loaded into his Mom's car and taken home where his mom grounded him. Here are some words from his mom to us:

 

"I cannot thank you guys enough, you (Diane) and James have to be some of the best people I know. There are literally no f***ing words for whats happening right now. You have brought my family together again, we were in so much pain it was the worst thing that had ever happened. You are absolute heroes, Axl is an absolute legend and please give him all the kisses from us. You do the most incredible work, I will never stop talking about you guys. Thank you for making my family whole again,  you have changed our lives. 

 

 

Thor - The Miracle Dog

 

When a bullterrier goes missing, the chances of finding them is slim and timing is essential. Thor had some really good humans looking out for him. Adorabul Rescue as well as one of Thor's neighbors jumped in when his parents needed help and contacted us. 

 

Axl, James and Diane responded and tracked to a river area. It was late and not the safest area but: Diane and James have learnt close quarter self defense (krav maga and other mixed marshal arts) so they can keep themselves, the dogs as well as clients safe. So, the area did not get to them and they went in. At one point, eyes were spotted and then a noise!! Thor was close. The team continued tracking and after a while he gave his alert. 

 

Diane and Thor's dad moved in and there he was... Thor hiding. Thor was safely reunited with his family. 

 

A special thank you to Adorabul Rescue for trusting us with this search. 

 

Finding Daisy

 

2024 was a year of fires in the greater Centurion area, with a fire blazing through our property and neighbors having to help us, to one ripping up Northern Farms, to the Hennops Fires of September 2024. It was with the September fires where we changed from fire fighters to rescuers.

 

A long time follower of us called us in after her son's home had been ravaged by a fire in Doornranje in the Hennops area and his dog and 2 cats were missing. When the fire hit their home, Ryan tried to get everyone out and saw Daisy outside, he opened the gate and encouraged her to get out. That was the last he saw of her. He ran inside to make sure the cats were out and to break windows so they could get out if trapped inside. When things had settled, he and Jade were able to find the one cat but not Daisy or the cat named Harrier. Thats when his mom called us.

 

James opted to search with Axl and Diane opted to go into the building and search. With flames still burning and the building still falling down, Diane went in with our safety gear and carefully and slowly started searching the rubble. At one stage, Ryan's mom ran up to make sure she was ok as a wall had fallen down - Diane did not even notice as she was so focused on her work. Fortunately Diane was fine as the wall fell outwards but, it showed how important our gear was - Diane would have been ok. It was not long before Diane saw a bone and realized she had found Daisy. She carefully uncovered the charred remains of this sweet dog and Ryan's mom told Ryan and Jade the news. Diane relates: "I will never get the sound of Ryan crying out of my head, the shock and guilt he had was insane but I knew that there was nothing he could have done differently. I stood there feeling the pain of Jett all over again. Ryan was feeling what I had felt and it broke me." Once news was relayed and everyone settled, Diane removed Daisy's body from the fire scene where it was checked by a vet nurse. The skull could not be found which showed she was likely taken quickly when the building went down. Ryan found the skull weeks later in the rubble. 

James and Diane, along with a neighbor from their area, searched the rubble for signs of the missing cat but it was soon clear: Harrier had escaped. Daisy was laid to rest in a coffin made for her by us and laid to rest in a cemetry. Thank you to Sonja Smith Funerals for assisting with the arrangements. 

Harrier... well.. He is out there and Diane will not rest until he is returned to his family. She goes out every 2 weeks to look for him and recently there was a sighting. Harrier will be returned!

 

As far as searches that haunt us go, this was a bad one and took Diane in particular a long time to get over. This job is not easy but returning Daisy to her parents was important.