When Jacques Brits went to look for his dog at the bottom of a 50-metre cliff, he was preparing himself for the sad burden of bringing back her body.
When Jacques Brits went to look for his dog at the bottom of a 50-metre cliff, he was preparing himself for the sad burden of bringing back her body.
“All we wanted was closure,” he said.
Instead he and his wife, Maya, got a healthy, happy dog, utterly delighted to be reunited with them, with only a graze on her muzzle to show for her ordeal.
Jacques and Maya are well known entrepreneurs in Grahamstown:
Jacques bakes artisan bread that gets fans flocking to the Saturday Morning Market on the corner of Allen and African Streets;
Maya is the force behind a new organic food store in Allen Street.
Every six months or so the couple take time away from their work to spend a weekend in Hogsback – and that’s where they were last Sunday, Mother’s Day.
They took their two Alsatian-cross dogs for a walk on the ridge above the Yellowwood Trail around 1.30pm and within minutes, were startled by a troop of baboons.
Before they could stop her, Rosie (7) was off and after them.
“We called and called but she wouldn’t come.
Then we went to look for her, but she had just disappeared like the mist in front of the sun,” Jacques said.
The couple feared the worst.
“We’d heard a lot of barking and we thought the baboons had got her.”
Then they saw the 50-metre drop beyond the wattle forest Rosie had run into – and they knew she’d must have fallen down.
Distraught they called Tim and Sonia Willetts, whose cottage they were renting.
Together they found and marked the spot at the top of the cliff where skid marks led directly to the edge.
Jacques walked down the trail with their younger dog, Walter, but they couldn’t find Rosie.
Meanwhile, Sonia called the Hobbiton-on-Hogsback mountain rescue team.
They arrived with ropes, harnesses and the question for Jacques when he returned, “Have you abseiled before?”
No he hadn’t – but he was willing to try anything if it meant getting his dog back safely.
A member of the mountain rescue team had abseiled down and found Rosie alive on a ledge – but she growled at him, and they figured it would have to be Jacques.
By now it was getting dark.
“We’d never done a rescue in the dark before,” said Hobbiton manager Tonya Burton.
Jacques quickly learnt the ropes, literally, and abseiled down to join volunteer instructor Johannes Lammers, already with Rosie.
Jacques got there with a few bumps and grazes on the way.
It was hair-raising.
“I looked down and I could see the lights of the village far, far below,” Jacques said.
When he reached Rosie, she jumped up to greet him.
“She was fine,” Jacques said.
Burton abseiled after them to help secure Rosie – “you know they don’t make rescue harnesses for dogs”.
She used a combination of blankets and ropes to make a makeshift harness for her.
Co-ordinating the operation from the top was Hobbiton staffer Alicia WIlliams, assisted by the Hogsback police under station commander Captain Dennis Ferreira and Wayne Kent of the community policing forum.
“Alicia was in charge of the rigging and the anchor points,” Burton explained.
Backing her up was Hobbiton assistant instructor Xolani Nxuzula. WIth the help of a police van and a 4×4 they pulled up first Jacques and Rosie – a combined weight of 135kg, then Johannes and Burton.
“It was a phenomenal job considering it was after dark, and the team managed to get three people and a dog back safely out of that kloof,” Burton said.
Explaining why they’d been not only willing but ready and able to assist, Burton said because the Hobbiton-on-Hogsback Association does outdoor education for children, they are fully equipped for mountain expeditions.
“We don’t charge a cent for mountain rescue,” Burton said.
“We do it as a community service.” The registered NPO accepts bookings from schools for holiday and weekend outdoor training camps.
They fund raise to pay for children from less resourced institutions such as Grahamstown’s Eluxolweni children’s shelter to attend the camps.
“Our rescue services are free, but donations are always welcome, said Burton.
Members of the public can call Hobbiton at 045 962 1193 or email hobbitons@telkomsa.net
