Cape Town man’s moving story: I was abandoned in the garage with my dog as a child but I hold no grudges

In the early hours of the morning, when sleep evades him, he has flashbacks of a big brown dog. The fleeting image disappears as quickly as it came to him, but he recalls sheltering behind the animal’s back.

It’s probably a blessing in disguise that Erik Ras (41) remembers almost nothing of the first few years of his life.

He was about 18 months old when he was found abandoned in a garage in Maitland, Cape Town, with his dog and only the animal’s food and water to eat and drink.