A family in Clarens have adopted Heidi and given her a loving forever home; the now famous pup is getting her happily ever after.
Clarens, South Africa (12 April 2023) – Heidi is famous for bringing the community of Clarens into the surrounding mountains in search of her. She was heard throughout the community, howling. In the end, Good Samaritan Joe found her and brought her down to safety. Since her story went viral, the Cluny Animal Trust has been caring for her and now has found her a forever home.
Clarens resident Joe, a dedicated animal lover and dog owner, spent several hours with his dogs, tracking the distressed animal. He eventually found her and it was clear she wasn’t in any immediate danger, but she did not trust humans either. She nipped him and in the week following her rescue, both underwent observation and vaccination against rabies. The Clarens community funded Joe’s private treatment to make sure the hero was taken care of.
Once it was clear that Heidi, who earned her name, was safe from Rabies infection, the Cluny Animal Trust worked to find her owners. After the allotted waiting period, they place Heidi on the adoption list and hoped someone would come forward to adopt the famous pooch. Sadly, after her story went viral, they didn’t get any interested adopters.
The team started sharing her story online once again, in the hope it would attract her potential new owners. On the 10th of April, the team shared the happy news that Heidi is home with her new family.
The good news is Heidi was adopted by a family local to Clarens and will remain a local celebrity for the rest of her days! The heartwarming update brought tears to our eyes!
“After all of the exposure that this little dog got, we thought we would be inundated with adoption applications…but we only got one and in the world of welfare, it really only takes one and it was the perfect one!
A local family from Clarens that we know are amazing animal owners applied, they came to visit her at our clinic in Fouriesburg last week Tuesday with their dog and it all went well. So, they asked if on Thursday, we could drop her off at their home, so they could see how it went. We consult in Clarens on a Thursday, so Dr Elsa dropped her off and then we started getting pictures from the family…so when we called to ask what time we could pick her up, but we already knew the answer…we couldn’t because she wasn’t going anywhere, she was home.
We could not wipe the smiles off of our faces…we were all grinning like Cheshire cats, and we were so happy that it had all worked out. Once we knew for sure that she was adopted, there was one call that we needed to make…to Joe, who had rescued her off the mountain, it was right that we let him know first and he was thrilled. Then we shared the good news on all of the local WhatsApp groups, because this was a story that involved the entire community of Clarens in one way or another.
Heidi will stay Heidi – she is not being renamed; her family thinks that the name suits her perfectly. But no more mountain adventures for this little girl, just a life filled with love and caring – she will never be lost again, and Heidi is home, forever!”
Heidi is now home and our hearts are full (so are our eyes!)
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