LOCAL: Dog nappers grab a dog on Table Mountain and hold her for ransom
Have you ever been through something like this with your dog?
If you are a pet parent or a kid parent, then you are familiar with them running off without your knowledge and sometimes losing their way. For kids and pets alike, the responsibility is real because they are family and these days, anything can happen in a split second.
For a woman in Cape Town, it was a real-life trauma when a jog with her 12-year-old Jack Russel, Jolie, turned into a scene from 'Ransom'. Jolie was nabbed whilst running behind Lisette Lombard last Saturday.
"Lisette told News24 that Jolie was running about 20 metres behind her on 9 October when she subsequently disappeared around 11:00. Lisette said she was in the bushes, moving towards Rhodes Memorial when she noticed Jolie was missing."
She said that as she frantically searched for Jolie, she had received a phone call from someone who had gotten her number from the tag around Jolie's neck. But this wasn't any ordinary phone call, it was the alleged kidnappers, informing her that they wanted money.
This was not my first time losing a dog in the forest. Usually, normal people would check the tag and call me and say, we have your dog, where are you? And I would say, I am in the forest and they would say, I am in the forest, too, let’s meet near the cars. But these guys were not like that. They wanted money.
Lisette said that the man would not tell her where Jolie was until he received the money. She ended up meeting with them at Blue Route Mall, and she was escorted by the police, who were in an unmarked vehicle.
"She said the group arrived in a white Mazda Etude, while the police observed from a nearby unmarked vehicle. She paid the four men R500 and they gave the dog back. who was seemingly dehydrated." (MSN)
SANParks, the management team at Table Mountain, said they were not aware of any syndicate operating in the area, but authorities have said they will be looking into it.
We are happy that Jolie and Lisette could be reunited and that their story is being shared so that the community is aware.
Just for fun, check out this movie clip from 'Cats and Dogs', where Buddy gets kidnapped.
Courtesy of YouTube:
Image Courtesy of Unsplash Website