It was a heartbreaking moment when Bulletjie, a Pekingese, was reunited with his owner after the terrified brat was missing for about two days following a tragic car accident.
Bulletjie and its owners, Rina Calitz (79) and her husband, Tertius Calitz (80), were involved in an accident at Dubbeldrift in Meiringspoort in the Western Cape on Monday afternoon. The couple was on their way to Pretoria.
Tertius died in the accident and Rina, who was diagnosed with dementia, was taken to a hospital.
Bulletje was clear.
“Bulltjie’s tail immediately wag when he saw his owner. He licked her face and kissed her,” says Marlene Mennie, general manager of Oudtshoorn Dogs in Need (ODIN), an animal welfare organisation.
After hearing about the situation, Mennie and colleague Patrick Zemba braved the wet and cold weather to rescue Bulletjie on Wednesday.
Colleen Smith, head of ODIN, says they saw an entry on Facebook about Bulletjie’s disappearance.
“On Wednesday morning, we received a call from one of the organisation’s supporters, Lee-Ann Johnson, after she saw a black and white dog while driving through Meiringspoort. However, she was unable to load the puppy into the rental car she was traveling in,” says Smith.
Johnson informed ODIN of exactly where she had seen the brat. Mennie and Zemba quickly jumped into the car and went looking for Bulletjie.
“On the way, I listened to Johnson’s voicemail over and over to make sure exactly where we should look,” says Mennie.
However, the foggy and rainy conditions made the search difficult.
In the area where the puppy was spotted, Zemba saw Bulletjie. The dog was sitting about two meters high on top of a cliff, under the overhang of a stone.
“We parked the car by the side of the road and ran to Bulletjie. When we got there, it was clear that he was wet and terrified. He wouldn’t let us near him because he was badly traumatized and we were strangers.
“When we got closer, he growled at us.”
Mennie and Zemba tried to catch Bulletjie with a jacket, but the terrified dog kept choosing the rabbit’s path and ended up in a river.
“Bulletjie tried to swim upstream with the river, but the current was strong due to the recent heavy rains. The current pushed him back in our direction until he was pressed against a tree stump and we were able to catch him.”
Still Bulletjie didn’t want to know anything and he kept snapping at Mennie and Zemba.
“He growled at us the whole time in the car and showed his teeth.”
Back at ODIN, vets thoroughly examined Bulletjie and confirmed that he was not injured.
Bulletjie is just over two and Rina’s granddaughter gave her the puppy as a gift after she was diagnosed with dementia.
At the reunion, Rina took Bulletjie in her arms, hugged her and gave her kisses.
“It was a precious moment. You could see Bulletjie was very happy to see her and just calmer too. When he was in Rina’s arms, he even allowed me to touch him.
“The aunt has already lost her husband and it would break her to lose Bulletjie as well.”
They are nevertheless amazed that Bulletjie survived two nights in the wet and cold environment, says the ODIN team.
“We are also very grateful that a wild animal did not catch him or that he ended up in the river current and drowned. Bulletje was a small one fighter.”
