Durban - Two pets that feature in the Durban and Coast SPCA’s newly-released calendar have snaky pasts.
Fanta, a cat from the Bluff, once brought a living spotted bush snake into the home she adopted herself into.
Fritz, a wire-haired dachshund-cross-terrier, survived a boomslang bite during Covid lockdown at his home in Crestholme, near Hillcrest.
The calendar, available at SPCA charity shops for R130, carries the fruits of a photographic competition and was launched ahead of a golf day at Royal Durban, on November 18, to mark the branch’s 125th anniversary.
Westville Boys’ High School Grade 8 pupil Tye van Rensburg, who shot the picture of Fanta that appears on the March page of the calendar, was at home alone on the day he brought in the snake.
“It went into the cat carrier,” Tye said.
When his dad, Alec, went home in response to a call from his son, he moved the carrier outside and the snake slithered into the garden and disappeared.
How Fanta, then a kitten, arrived on the Van Rensburg doorstep three years ago is a mystery.
The family wonders whether its mother dumped it and another kitten, or whether it was people who did so.
“It was a Wednesday and the day of the Rugby World Cup,” Tye’s mother, Loryn, recalled.
They fell in love with Fanta and gave the other kitten to a rescue centre.
“Fanta’s a hunter,” said Alec. “We have a special rescue shelf in the bathroom. He brings in birds, lizards, snakes, rats, geckos, and I put them up there next to an open window. They push off when they recover.”
Meanwhile, Fritz, originally a rescue dog who came into Dave and Annette Smit’s home after his previous owners emigrated, along with another canine, killed a boomslang, but not before the serpent gave the hound a bite of its own medicine, both literally and figuratively.
While there was anxiety in getting him to the vet on time, more was to follow.
“The vet had only one ampoule of expensive anti-venom left, so we had to make very sure it was a boomslang,” said Annette.
On their way home, the police pulled the Smits over at a roadblock, wanting to know why they were out and about during lockdown.
“We’ve been to the vet,” Annette said she told them.
Not convinced, they replied: “Where’s the dog?”
“’At hospital’, I explained and eventually I found a slip for the R6 000 deposit I had put down for the anti-venom.”
The Smits’ neighbour, Robyn Dickinson, took Fritz’s photo, which appears on the October page of the SPCA calendar. Her own dog, a Dobermann called Sam, features on the front cover with a tennis ball in his mouth.
- Entry for the SPCA Golf Day is R2 800 for a four-ball and includes snacks and prizes. Corporate branding is also available at each of the 18 holes. In return for a sponsorship fee, the SPCA is offering corporate branding and product promotion at the sponsored green/tee in accordance with club regulations. Contact Tanya for sponsorships or four-ball bookings on [email protected].
The Independent on Saturday