Written by Bianca Peens
Photography by Elsa van Ginkel
On the 11th of July 2024, Laerskool Azaadville learners saw Angel (as she was then named) roaming around the school; a teacher contacted No More Tears Animal Rescue. It was then that one of the directors, Riana Cronje, went to uplift Angel. Riana said they’d put her in a tennis court and closed it off, keeping her safe until help arrived. On arrival, Riana realised that Angel was in a really bad condition and she was taken to Homestead Veterinary Hospital.
I saw on her Facebook post that Stephan Hendricks, one of the other directors from No More Tears Animal Rescue, had posted, and I made contact with him to ask if we could assist with her rehabilitation, as it would be a lengthy process and a long time to be in a cage at the vet. Arrangements were made and, on Sunday the 14th of July 2024, we left Pretoria to go and fetch her at the vet in Randfontein.
When we arrived it was a grim scene: she was curled up in her cage, completely shut down emotionally and petrified. It was clear that she’d given up on life, and when I picked her up she didn’t resist but she flinched the moment I spoke. She was in a bad state, weighing only 11.4kg. On the way home I checked on her constantly, because I was so scared she was going to die.
Arriving at home, her other “foster mom”, Hanti Du Toit, had already run her a warm bath and was waiting on us. Whilst getting her ready for her bath, we realised this little girl wasn’t able to walk properly and she had bad proprioception in her left back leg, and her head was shaking constantly with big open wounds to her head.
She had a long warm bath and we removed the thick crust of scabs over her face. After her bath, she had a bowl of raw food and we got her wrapped up in blankets. Her eyes kept following us – she was scared to death of everyone and everything – it was heart-breaking to see. We decided to call her Phoenix, a strong name for a strong girl.
The next day we were off to our vet, and Dr Chan from Valley Farm Animal Hospital started on the healing journey with us. After a good check-up we headed home with more meds.
In the days following we had lots of bad moments. She was riddled with worms and it caused a drop in her red blood count, making oxygenation to all organs difficult and her breathing was laboured. But this little girl never gave up and, after week one, we saw a massive change in her personality. She started to trust us and became very close with her brother, Blake, a black Bull Terrier. She also became physically stronger and was soon running around with her tail wagging.
Forward to today: Phoenix became a foster fail and she now weighs 18kg, her hair is growing back fairly quickly, but she still has bald patches over her body. She’s an absolute hooligan who plays nonstop, loves cuddles and kisses, food is life, and her Bully brother is her partner in crime. The baba who once almost gave up on life showed us that with love and good food, anything is possible.
