Owl Rescue Centre Steps in to Save Stray Brakpan Mom and Pups

Photo Credit: SPOT - Sunny's Pet Outreach Team NPC - Brakpan & The Owl Rescue Centre

A stray mom and pups spent a week dodging rescuers in a Brakpan veld…until Flash and Chikita stepped in.

Brakpan, South Africa (14 July 2026) – SPOT – Sunny’s Pet Outreach Team NPC in Brakpan first found out about the stray mom and her litter last Thursday. She had kept the pups tucked away in the veld, and time wasn’t on their side.

Rescuing the pups would have been simple enough, but mom and babies had to be rescued altogether. Left behind, she would have likely kept on the move without her littles, through an area exposed to veld fires, traffic, and disease. The team checked on the little family every day and made sure mom had food. A trap went down each morning. Every single day, she avoided it.

“She would win Survivor… Outwit, Outlast, Outplay,” SPOT wrote. She was too sharp and too wary for the trap to ever stand a chance.

By the weekend, they were out of ideas, so they called the Owl Rescue Centre. Brakpan isn’t close to their base in Hartbeespoort, and puppies aren’t generally the focus of their rescues, but the answer came back straight away.

“[We] contacted Owl Rescue Centre for help out of pure desperation, mindful of their responsibilities, time constraints and resources…Brakpan is not exactly around the corner for them… And they said YES!”

Brendan and his K9 team – Flash and Chikita – made the drive out. Many hours later, mom and every one of her pups were finally caught safely.

“This was not possible without you,” SPOT said afterward, calling the team heroes for making the trip on short notice with no real guarantee it would actually work.

A village pitched in to get the rescue over the line. Shaun Gibson had been resetting the trap and feeding mom daily all week. He and Corlia from RAWR – Reptile and Wildlife Rescue – helped out, along with Johnny and a group of volunteers. Dr Debbie Pledger at Dalvet Animal Clinic covered the cost of the rescue.

Mom and her pups are now off the veld and in safe hands. Even the best Survivor contestants tap out eventually! Watch the rescue video below – and yes, that’s Chikita hooting in the background.