The couple and their helping hands safely brought the doggies back down the mountain.
Cape Town, South Africa (05 November 2025) – A couple who were taking a walk in the upper paths along Rhodes Memorial recently became the heroes of two beautiful black labbies.
One, because they cared enough to stop. Two, because they didn’t give up after the first attempts failed.
When Zadie Gilbert and her boyfriend first crossed paths with the doggies lying along the path, they knew better than to leave them. They looked exhausted, dehydrated, and defeated. One would not move at all. Their owners were not in sight.
“We’d been sitting with them for about an hour,” Zadie shared. “They seemed exhausted and dehydrated. The one refused to walk. We tried calling the SPCA, who referred us to Animal Control Law Enforcement. They sent us an SMS with a reference number, but it seemed like a bit of a dead end.”
Knowing that two vulnerable souls were counting on them, they stayed put, comforted the dogs, and waited for help that never came.
That’s where they, two ordinary people, stepped in to become animal welfare heroes.
Zadie, her beau, along with family that showed up to help, went the extra mile to bring the dogs down from the mountain and back to safety themselves.
They took them straight to TAH Rosmead Veterinary Hospital, where staff stepped in to check for microchips and gave them proper care.
“The dogs are chipped, but the information on the chip is the breeder’s information,” Zadie later explained. “They’ll stay in the care of TAH Rosmead until the breeder organisation can be contacted.”
The story quickly spread through Cape Town’s Southern suburbs Facebook and WhatsApp groups, and soon after, the owners were found and the doggies were safely reunited with their family.
“Both dogs are safe and sound at TAH Rosmead,” wrote Daniel Hart, who shared the final update. “The owner has been found and is super grateful. Shout out to Zadie and her boyfriend for their selfless act of looking after these lost babies and getting them safe and sound!”
Had the couple not stopped, the outcome could’ve been heartbreaking. The mountain is a dangerous place for domesticated animals in distress. But because two people chose kindness over convenience, the dogs are back where they belong.
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