This dog got his day

2003-10-09 21:50

Jan Taljaard

Oudtshoorn - When police arrested 11-year-old James Voko, an Oudtshoorn street child, and handed his best friend over to the SPCA, the boy stood his ground and refused to give in to the authorities.

Eventually he won and got back his beloved dog, Stompie.

To Voko, it did not matter that the pair had no home, that he was not at school, that his father is in prison and that his stepfather kicked him out of his mother's house.

What did matter was that Stompie had been taken away from him.

Voko said his ordeal started when police arrested him for living on the streets. They locked him up in a police cell for a night and took Stompie sway.

The homeless duo have been inseparable for the past three years after Voko rescued the unwanted puppy from an abandoned litter.

Voko said as a puppy, Stompie had been so small he carried him around in his pocket. He said he hand-raised the puppy and fed him with a baby's bottle.

But before long, the pup had grown and was soon sharing his master's dinner with him.

Sleeping under the stars together was not a problem, said Voko. Stompie watched over them. That was, however, until the night police arrived and carted them both away.

The following day Voko was released, but Stompie had disappeared. No one was able to tell Voko what the arresting officers had done with the dog.

"I thought and thought about where Stompie could be," Voko said. He said he went to all their old haunts but could not find his friend. Eventually he thought of the SPCA.

Voko refused to take no for an answer and eventually the SPCA had to give in.

They could not envisage having a desperate Voko outside their gate day and night - especially not when the dog was well cared for, fat and healthy.

- Die Burger