Written by Clare Travers, Canine Manager – Animal Welfare Society Helderberg
Professional photography by Caroline Hartley Photography
We fetched Cindy from a rubbish dump. According to the locals in Eersteriver, who finally alerted us, she’d been living on the dump from about six weeks of age – she was about three months old when we found her. We’re not entirely sure how she survived the elements and managed to survive on scraps. But she did.
On arrival at the kennels, one leg was severely damaged and she was a sad, empty, lost, starved and neglected puppy. We named her Cindy and felt she deserved a fighting chance at love. Our organisation raised enough money and she went off to EberVet Pet Clinic in Strand for her leg amputation. She was so brave and strong.
From there she went into the most wonderful foster home where she blossomed and thrived. She made a remarkable recovery and got stronger by the day. After about a month of recovery in a foster home, Cindy went up for adoption and found the most amazing forever home in Strand with Dominique Lessing.
Dominique, Cindy’s (now named Gracie) owner, shares...
I first saw little Cindy’s photo when I was in the ICU after undergoing open heart surgery. I went on Facebook a few days later and saw her photo and story on the AWS page. Her story broke my heart and I remember seeing her sad little brown eyes on the photo and thinking to myself: my family needs her.
She’s a walking little miracle – and we have a lot of that going on in our household, haha! When we met her for the first time, my one-year-old daughter couldn’t stop laughing and smiling at her, and Cindy was SO gentle with her, playing with her little hands and being so careful not to hurt her.
My husband and I knew then that they needed each other. Cindy has brought so much love, chaos and fun into our home and also gets along so well with our two cats, especially my male cat, Moose. They sit in front of the heater together and chase each other up and down most days.
She’s also so protective of my daughter and they’ve become the best of friends – truly such a beautiful sight to see. I couldn’t imagine our lives without her now. Our families and friends adore her and she goes with us everywhere we go.
People everywhere are astonished at how amazing she’s doing after losing her leg. Her favourite thing is to sit in front of the heater with her teddy bear or walk along the beach.
Cindy’s a true treasure we never knew we needed.
