Thieves steal dog used to hunt rhino poachers

Jack, a dog trained to track rhino poachers, has been stolen with his owner's bakkie in Pretoria, the Palala Rhino Sanctuary said on Tuesday.

"The owner [Kobus Greef] had his birthday on Sunday and went to Brooklyn Mall with Jack on the back of the bakkie," Selomie Maritz, founder of the Palala sanctuary, said.

Jack stayed on the white Land Cruiser, as he was trained to do, while Greef and his family went into the mall.

"The vehicle was stolen out of the pay-parking, and since Sunday we have been looking for him."

Greef is from Pongola in KwaZulu-Natal. He came to Pretoria for his birthday.

"Kobus is devastated. He is still in Pretoria. He says he can't leave here without Jack," Maritz said.

Police were alerted. Greef and others had been scouring veterinary clinics to see if the thieves dropped the dog off. Maritz said they had difficulty getting help from the mall.

However, video footage from cameras at the mall shows the bakkie leaving, but it was too dark to identify the thieves.

Jack, a 10-year-old German short-haired pointer, was trained in Germany to track poachers.