It was a bittersweet moment for Angel, the five-legged dog, when she was reunited with her new owner just days after she was stolen.
It turns out the puppy was snatched by her former owner on Friday, the same day Angel appeared in the Daily Voice.
Angel’s new owner, Desiree Paris, a community leader in Thambo Village, Manenberg, was appealing for help to remove Angel’s fifth paw as it was making it difficult for her to walk.
SPCA inspectors promised to collect her the same day, but the puppy was dognapped by mense in a red Uno.
Desiree said Angel was given to her after the previous owner became freaked out by the extra pootjie, fearing it would bring him bad luck.
But yesterday, Ganief Benjamin, 54, told the Daily Voice this was a lie, and that Angel was actually stolen from him.
Ganief says when his wife spotted the Daily Voice article on Friday, he knew exactly where to find Angel.
Ganief’s wife, Fatima Kote, 51, explains: “I buy the Daily Voice every day and then I showed the article to Ganief.
“My 33-year-old son who was driving on that side of Manenberg [on Friday] saw the dog [in the street] and put her into the car because we love our dogs.”
But Ganief says there’s no hard feelings.
“My dog Toska had 10 puppies, that dog was the only one born with five legs,” he says.
“The dog wasn’t drinking much and couldn’t walk but crawled around. I kept her because she was special, a good luck charm.”
But he decided to give the doggie back to Des after reading how distraught she was about the snatching.
“I said she can have the dog as long as she looks after it and gets it help.”
Desiree was overjoyed at getting Angel back, but denies stealing her in the first place.
“I never stole Angel,” she says.
The Cape of Good Hope’s SPCA’s Belinda Abraham confirmed X-rays of Angel’s leg will be taken to see if it’s removable.