ABERDEEN NEWS - When Aberdeen resident Frans Diedericks went to offload garden refuse at the local dumping ground last month, he did not expect to end up with a rescue dog.
Whilst at the tip, he noticed an extremely thin and dirty brown dog, running around loose and desperately searching for food and water. The dog's plight touched his heart, and on his return home, he told his wife, Bets, what he had seen.
They went back to the tip three times that same afternoon, trying to find the poor mutt, without success. The people in the area all claimed to know nothing about the stray dog, and there was no sign of any owner.
Very early the next morning, the couple went back, and found the dog scratching around in the area where rubbish was being burned. They caught her, put her in the back of their bakkie, and took her to Maureen MacAndrew, who runs the local animal welfare charity.
"She was badly affected by mange, and was a feeding ground for at least a hundred ticks," said MacAndrew, who immediately cleaned her up in a dip bath. The tips of both of the dog' ears were missing, and it is thought that they had been burned during her desperate scavenging.
As she was so badly infected with mange, the Diedericks couple were initially reluctant to take her home for fear of infecting their other dogs. For two weeks, MacAndrew kept her isolated in a kennel, dipping her every day and making sure she ate the nourishing food which the husband and wife supplied.
Optel was in a terrible condition when the Diedericks couple rescued her.
The doggy responded well to the treatment, and the couple decided to adopt her. The Graaff-Reinet SPCA arranged for her to be sterilised at welfare rates, and this week she moved into her new home.
"We named her Optel, which means 'pick up'. She is such a clever dog," enthused Bets. "She has a lovely nature, and has settled down nicely with our other dogs. She no longer attacks her food bowl!"
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