Tessa’s Second Chance

17th Jan, 2025

Written by Heidi Kibble

Professional photos by Luc Hosten 

Tessa’s rescue started long before she was born. In 1996, my husband, Barry, and I adopted a beautiful pitch-black female crossbreed puppy from the SPCA. She was an amazingly special girl who was with us for twelve short years. We mourned her passing for many years.

In 2010, I was ready for another special girl. I chose a black female GSD puppy because she looked just like my previous girl. This baby’s name was Indigo and she was the most extraordinary child, full of life and incredibly clever. We lost her way too young – she was only seven – to a freak accident. We’re still grieving her loss today.

In 2020, just before Covid, I was bored and scrolling through Facebook. Usually, I never look at pet rescue sites because I’d want to rescue all of them, but for some reason I opened a post and scrolled through the photos. And there she was, the spitting image of Indigo. Her name was Tessa, the same as our first beautiful child we adopted from the SPCA – it was meant to be!

I contacted the agency, who told me that she was in Pretoria at Denel Military Base and that she was a retired bomb detection dog. I told my husband that we were going on a road trip with our Yorkies. These two little darling girls are a bit cheeky, and I wanted to make sure that there wouldn’t be any clashes.

Arrangements were made, and we set off about a week later. It couldn't have gone better if I’d written the script myself. It was love at first sight between Tessa and Barry. After sniffing the Yorkies, she promptly ignored them. I was ecstatic! She’s the most wonderful young lady and just slotted into our lives and our pack as if she’d been there forever – she didn’t even mind the cats.

For four years, we were all blissfully happy. Tessa was living her best life with us and all her brothers and sisters on our farm outside Patensie, going out with the horses on trail rides and running next to the quad bike – everything a happy, healthy girl could want.

That same year, we noticed she was starting to slow down. We weren’t too concerned as she was ten years old already. In early October, while taking the dogs out for a run, I noticed she was lagging far behind the quad bike – very unusual for a girl who previously didn’t want to be more than three metres away from me. I immediately turned around, and we returned home very slowly.

I took her to our PE vet the following day. After several tests and scans, we were referred to a specialist. More tests and scans revealed her heart had slowed to the point that she needed a pacemaker. Not the very best news, but we were very grateful that there was a solution.

Less than a week later, all arrangements made, I set off with my beautiful girl to Cape Town. We arrived late Wednesday afternoon and checked her into the hospital. I was lucky enough to find a B&B just two kilometres away.

Thursday, the day of the operation, was very stressful, but she came through with flying colours – the op was a complete success. She wasn’t out of the woods completely, but she was very strong considering. She stayed in the hospital for a further five nights, getting stronger and more bored with each passing hour. I was very relieved and grateful when she was given the medical okay to travel home, and we left the next morning.

Tessa is now six weeks post-op and getting healthier and more like herself every day. We’re extremely grateful to all our PE vets and the amazing team in Cape Town. Thank you for giving our special child a second chance.

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