INLSA
Lochner Bekker’s pup, Rocky, who went missing on the eMdloti beachfront on Saturday.
They searched stormwater drains until well after dark and peppered local shops with missing posters, but an Eastern Cape family will have to return home this morning without their Jack Russell pup, which went missing in eMdloti on Saturday.
Bertus Bekker extended his family’s stay in eMdloti to continue the search, but must now leave as two of his sons should have been back at school today. Bekker is appealing to a family in a white Isuzu bakkie who were seen picking up 11-week-old Rocky to return the pet.
The loss of the puppy had been especially hard on his eldest son, Lochner, who had Down syndrome, he said.
“Each time I come back from searching, he hopes it will be with his dog in my arms. Rocky means a lot to him.”
The Bekker children had gone to a shop close to their grandmother’s eMdloti home on Saturday afternoon, not knowing that the pup had followed them.
A frantic search was launched when it was discovered that Rocky was missing, with posters of the dog going up on lamp-posts and in shop windows.
Frances van Breda, of La Lucia, contacted the Bekkers as her daughter had seen Rocky wandering in eMdloti.
Her daughter had seen the family in the bakkie pick up the pup. The family had told her daughter they would take the pup home for the night and return to the same spot on Sunday to see if its owners would turn up.
When they failed to arrive, Van Breda appealed to The Mercury to help put the two families in touch.
“We want them to know who to contact and to know that there are people looking for Rocky,” she said.
Bekker contacted a private security company yesterday to look at CCTV footage of the bakkie, hoping to see the licence plate, which they were able to do late last night. The family now hopes to be able to trace the vehicle’s owner and recover their dog.
Bekker said that if returned, the pup would be cared for by the children’s grandmother until they returned to eMdloti to fetch him.
Lochner, 17, said he missed his pup and worried about whether it was properly cared for. “He’s a very good dog. I don’t want another dog. He’s my very first dog,” he said.
Bertus Bekker can be telephoned at 082 573 9533.
