Africa-Press – South-Africa. I have not slept ever since Dora disappeared. I am scared and I am nervous. I have lost my dog.”
These were the words of Constable Siphamadla Nyameka, the K9 dog handler who’s still in shock as four days have gone by with no sight of his four-legged colleague Dora, who ran off in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
The six-year-old brown Belgian Shepherd, known for her energetic habits, has been missing for nearly four days, and the search for her has yielded no positive results.
According to Eastern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Kaya Matola-Mvanyashe, Dora ran off on Monday at around 18:00, when her kennel door was being opened so she could be fed.
“She ran out, and her handler was not present at the time,” said Matola-Myanyashe.
Having had Dora for nearly five years, Nyameka feels distraught over his dog’s disappearance and hopes she will be recovered safely.
Having transferred to Mthatha from Maloti with his dog only four weeks ago, Nyameka said Dora’s disappearance scares him, because she may struggle to find her way back since she was unfamiliar with the area.
“Dora is a very active dog and hardly stays in her kennel. She likes going up and down. When someone opens her kennel to give her food or water, they must always make sure that you don’t open the door wide.
“It’s always best to open the door and then block her with your left hand because she always wants to go out.
” What scares me now is that she does not know this area very well. She is not like your normal neighbourhood dog able to walk around the area. We have only been here for four weeks now, and she is still unfamiliar with this environment,” he said.
When Nyameka first got Dora in 2018, he noticed her unusually low weight. Upon taking her to the doctor, it was confirmed that she was underweight.
“She is underweight and does not like food, so we had to give her conditioning food at least twice a day. Ever since she has been eating this, she has gained weight. Before she weighed 18kg, and now she weighs 21,70, so it’s been working for her,” he said.
Reflecting on the tough times Dora had to go through, Nyameka said his priorities have always been to care for Dora to the best of his abilities.
“I always take good care of her and we have bonded so much. I remember the one time she had to go for an operation on her right ear. She had a skin problem which caused a blood clot on the part of the ear [of] which [we] had to cut that piece out. But I’m glad she is fine now,” he said.
He also recalled an incident where a man had gone to a house in Mount Ayliff, raped a child, shot the child’s sister and then kidnapped their mother.
“In order to track the suspect, we used Dora. She helped us locate and arrest him,” Nyameka recalled.
The Mthatha K9 unit has appealed to the community to assist it in finding Dora. Anyone who can assist in locating her or who may have spotted a similar looking dog in the vicinity is asked to urgently contact Captain Gladstone Mkentane on 082 457 3643 or her handler, Constable Siphamadla Nyameka on 071 895 0596.
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