Dog collapses after seeing owner
2008-09-05 09:44
Johannesburg - A Great Dane who was saved from a burning house collapsed the following day, presumably due to the shock and excitement of finding his artist owner still alive.
After a very expensive operation, Ghandi is now one of Harem du Plessis's most valuable - and only - possessions. "I lost everything in the fire. I now only have a bag of clothes, my passport and Ghandi," he said.
The house at Kaapsche Hoop, near Nelspruit, burnt down on Sunday in one of the many fires in the area. A friend, Louis de Clercq, saved Ghandi.
Du Plessis was at a seminar in Johannesburg when his house, containing thousands of rands worth of paintings and sculptures, burnt down. He could only return on Monday.
De Clercq took Ghandi back to the destroyed house earlier that day. "He went berserk when he saw the house," said Du Plessis. "He started barking and whining, probably because he thought I had died in the fire."
Jumping around excitedly
When Du Plessis arrived at the house later that afternoon, Ghandi started jumping around excitedly and suddenly collapsed.
"The dog's stomach started swelling and I raced him to the vet."
Dr Albertus Coetzee of the West Acres Animal hospital determined that Ghandi had gastric torsion - a condition where the animal's stomach twists.
As blood supply is cut off to the stomach, the animal could die.
An emergency operation had to be done on Ghandi, and he was also treated for smoke inhalation.
Ghandi will now have to be fed special food for a few weeks.
Dog food manufacturer Eukanuba Veterinary Diets heard of his plight on Thursday and offered to sponsor his food.
Du Plessis is known for his surrealistic art and sculptures. He was commissioned to do 26 paintings for British philanthropist and billionaire, Sir Richard Branson.