As told by Spirit
My Heritage Made Me a Target
I enjoyed the beautiful places where we lived and drew a lot of attention. Several Africans in Zululand and Transkei offered to purchase me for up to USD 1,000 from the twins so they could breed and conduct illegal hunts with me. This put the twins on high alert as I was becoming a target in rural South Africa — to be kidnapped, to be pulled back into slavery. The twins told me that, as far as Africanis bloodlines go, I am royalty and an exceptional dog in the Africanis Landrace. This was why people in rural South Africa saw value in me. My Tesem and Saluki ancestry is clearly visible in my features. There was a lot of money to be made from me.
Getting Into Trouble
For the most part, I behaved well on the travels, but as a teenager, I was full of energy and loved mischief, so I did get into trouble sometimes. This one time, I chased a blind sheep just for the fun of it, and the sheep ran into a dam and almost drowned. Stephan had to jump into the dam, swim after the blind old sheep, and rescue it. This almost turned into a disaster as the sheep had an incredible amount of wool, and became extremely heavy when the wool got soaked with water — so it was literally a "heavy" rescue mission. The sheep almost drowned.
Meeting the Africanis of Botswana
Where we travelled in Botswana, I enjoyed meeting other Africanis dogs. I was amazed at how many of them roam around Botswana. Seeing the terrible condition most of the Africanis are in, in Botswana, a great sense of gratitude came over me for having the life I was getting used to. I felt a deep connection to these dogs as they were all dogs that had suffered greatly, as I had as a pup. These were the dogs my human guardians were helping, just like they helped me. I thought the piece of my ear that was cut off and the permanent scar on the back of my neck were bad, but the Africanis dogs I met in Botswana during our travels and foundation work were so much worse off. Many have permanent scarring from boiled water being poured over them, broken legs, missing limbs, some have teeth missing, many have their ears bleeding painfully from a parasite called the Putse fly that lays eggs inside the raw bits, and the most common sight is the severe malnutrition that makes their hip bones and ribs protrude. Then, there are also extreme parasite infestations.
I could tell these dogs suffer extreme abuse and fear because their tails are between their hind legs most of the time. This is a sign of fear. A happy Africanis has a twirly tail — this is one of our most distinct features that shows contentment and joy. I know this very well; I used to have my tail hidden between my hind legs. Despite the intense fear we Africanis have for humans who abuse and neglect us, we still love them unconditionally and will never leave their side. We can choose to roam in the wild, but we don't — we hang out close to humans. They need us. Despite the abuse, neglect, and suffering they inflict on us, they simply cannot live without us in Africa. Without us, who will guard the most valuable possession of the African — their livestock, especially their cattle?
The Africanis Inspire Love
Humans must make the mindset shift and understand that dogs don't merely exist as a commodity, but also have a purpose in the cycle of life. As humans do, we also feel pain, but we also sense the pain of humans, the emotional pain they carry.
We have a role. We take this job seriously, not because it's an instinct to guard and protect livestock, but because we are dogs, and dogs instinctively have unconditional love for humans, so we protect their most valuable possessions because we love them — but more importantly, because we want to demonstrate what love is.
Those humans who project the most abuse, torture, suffering, and neglect on dogs need the most love, so we stay very close to them. Our true role as the aboriginal landrace dog of Africa is to inspire love in humans — the love they lost a long time ago when they traded the love for organic life for the love of things. This is the most important lesson we get taught as dogs by our elders, and this is what Queen Sheba taught me: how to love unconditionally.
Spirit is now an ambassador for the Africanis™ brand and the Oister™ Foundation's mission to protect and preserve the Canis Africanis — Africa's aboriginal landrace dog. Every purchase from Africanis™ helps fund rescues like Spirit's.