Written by Dido Blagden
Professional photography by Strike a Pose Studios
Poppy the black-and-tan stray had been hurtling along Zwartkops Road towards busy Beyers Naudé Drive when a kind motorist rescued her and delivered her to Helga Tsoumbris of Mama Kasi Rural Rescue’s charity shop.
Poppy seeks a home
Poppy spent the next month at the Muldersdrift Animal Clinic where she was spayed and all the pest and parasite control was done. Poppy even donated blood a couple of times to save lives in emergency situations at the vet because she was so young and healthy.
Despite much advertising and her being a lovely, if young and somewhat rambunctious, dog, Poppy (as she was named by Helga) received little interest and her former owners clearly didn’t wish to claim her. She’d been lactating a little from her hind teats, indicating that she’d had puppies at some point, so perhaps she was only worth the pups she produced.
I saw the original post about her, and having fairly recently lost a black-and-tan wooligan dog (which I’d also foster-failured/adopted from Mama Kasi), to mast cell cancer, I offered to foster Poppy.
A month after she came into the vet I went to fetch her. Helga knew that I’m a wink-wink, nudge-nudge “fosterer”, aka “foster failure”, and so it was that Poppy became the fifth member of my pack.
It’s a wonderful life for Poppy
On the first day, she “phukked” up a duck (my Dini’s favourite soft duck with a squeaker that honks). She performed a perfect squeakerectomy and unstuffed him within minutes.
The next day, she was more ambitious and chomped a Croc (shoe). But this time mummy (moi) was even less pleased. This was my favourite pair of purple-lined Crocs (hey, no judgement!). Okay, so, actually, truth be told, despite the shock, there was also gratitude – I’d recently got a pair of Birkenstocks! So her choice of fugly shoes to chew was received with mixed feelings but learned lessons. I realise she’s just a tweener – just between pup and adult – despite having had a litter already.
It’s with great honour (and a little trepidation) we welcome Poppy into our home and hearts. Our beloved rescues always come with lessons and an abundance of eager energy and joie de vivre… I’m sure that somehow, the universe picks them out for us (and sometimes the universe certainly has a sense of humour!).
Just like her predecessor, Biscuit, I don’t think Poppy is going to allow either myself or the rest of the pack to age gracefully!