Buc's working like a dog on museum building site

The site of Cape Town’s latest world-class attraction has an unusual worker - a black Belgian Shepherd.

Like most of the team working on the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa‚ Buckaroo is up before dawn for his commute to the construction site at the V&A Waterfront.

There‚ dressed in a custom-made high-visibility neon jacket‚ Buc spends the day trotting up and down the scaffolding that surrounds the old silos being converted into the museum‚ and stands guard over equipment.

Buc ended up on the job after surveyor Paul Edgecome went looking for a new dog at the SPCA. He had heard about two Belgian Shepherds that had been rescued in Goodwood.

“Buc basically chose me. He came up to me and he sat with me and that’s what made me decide‚” said Edgecome.

“I grew up with dogs. I was given my first Belgian Shepherd when I was 15 and I have had about five of them in all.”

On site and in Edgecome’s office‚ workers casually greet Buc as he jogs next to his owner.

“It is a very nice dog. You touch it and it comes and sits next to you. We love it. It is safe here on site‚” said construction worker Bongai Yekelela.

Edgecome has taken dogs to work for 26 years. “I had two with me during the construction of the Green Point stadium‚ and another one during the construction of the GrandWest casino. So they have been on big jobs with me‚” he said.

Construction sites can be dangerous - workers and visitors are required to wear protective gear such as boots and a helmet - but Edgecome is not too concerned.

“Belgian Shepherds are intelligent dogs‚ so they are quite alert‚” he said.

His intelligence shows‚ according to Edgecome. On days when the construction site is noisy and Buc is not wearing his earmuffs‚ he finds his way to the quieter office and even opens the door.

It is during his strolls to the office that concerned V&A customers have noticed him and reported him as a stray.

The shopping centre said it had fielded a number of calls about a “fluffy black dog” wearing a yellow construction vest.

TMG Digital/Cape Town Bureau