Peanut went missing on the 21st of June 2019 during a massive thunderstorm; now, he is being reunited with his family, who never gave up looking.
Cape Town, South Africa (26 April 2021) – One stormy night, nearly two years ago, Peanut the Jack Russel got the fright of his life and bolted! His family went on to spend the next 22 months looking for him, never giving up on finding him.
The storm had caused quite a bit of damage to the house, and the boundary wall came down, creating an opening for Peanut to get out.
Peanut’s family followed every lead, checked every shelter and spent weeks searching for him. They never gave up hope, and then a few weeks ago, someone saw a dog that looked like Peanut. The dog was spotted at an industrial site.
“We received a tip-off recently that a little dog matching his description was seen on a large industrial site. He’d apparently been there for ages & although he kept himself well hidden and wouldn’t allow anyone near him, he was being fed -and somehow managed to create a little world for himself and survive against all odds.
As soon as his owner was notified and identified him from photos taken by workers on site, a rescue operation was organised.” – Rusty’s Rescues CPT
Rusty’s Rescues is a voluntary community dog rescue service. They are based in Milnerton and rescue, foster and network for animals in the area. They assisted in getting a trap into the area in the hopes that Peanut would be caught that way.
Poor Peanut was so nervous of everyone, even his own parents, that it took them two days before he was caught.
He was collected by his overjoyed parents and taken to their local vet for a full health check. Thankfully he was still in good health, so he just got a very good bath and a delicious meal before settling back into his home.
The family’s 14-year-old son was devastated when Peanut went missing, so the family decided to wait until they had caught Peanut before telling their son.
He arrived home to find Peanut, and the reunion was one that brought tears to everyone’s eyes. Rusty’s Rescues went to visit Peanut and made sure he got a microchip.