An 11-day search for a missing fox terrier on Table Mountain ended in a late-night rescue operation on Wednesday 24 June, reuniting the frightened dog with his owner after a community effort that captured hearts across the peninsula.

Pepper belongs to Erwin Moses, whose daughter Nicole Clarence describes him as far more than a family pet. “He was one of the last living pieces of a life my mom and dad had shared together. He had been loved endlessly by my mom, and after losing her, he had become my dad’s faithful companion through the loneliest days. We couldn’t lose him too.”

The search

Pepper went missing on Sunday 14 June after another dog chased him out of sight while Erwin was walking on the Pipe Track on Table Mountain between Kasteelspoort and Woody Ravine.

From the following morning, Erwin drove daily from Stellenbosch to the mountain, arriving with hope and leaving only when darkness forced him off. Each night he went home without Pepper. Each morning he got up and did it all again, with Jolene Harris from Leaps, an animal rescue service, faithfully beside him throughout.

Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) teams were called out twice during this period, once when Erwin himself failed to return from the Pipe Track, and again on Tuesday 16 June, Youth Day, when he and a companion became stranded on a ledge in Slangolie Ravine while searching below the Pipe Track. Rescuers descended to their position, secured them on rope and guided them back to safety above.

Still, Erwin returned to the mountain the next day.

A community rallies

What began as a family search quickly grew into something far larger. Strangers offered to hike with Erwin, businesses displayed posters, drones and sniffer dogs joined the search, pet communicators gave their time and a BackaBuddy campaign was launched in Pepper’s name.

“At first, it was just family searching,” said Nicole. “Then something beautiful happened. People who had never met us started caring. Neighbours shared Pepper’s story. Friends shared it. Then strangers shared it. Soon Camps Bay seemed to know who Pepper was.”

“I remember sitting there completely overwhelmed. How could people who didn’t know us care this much?”

The rescue

Late on the afternoon of 24 June, Pepper was spotted on the lower slopes below Corridor Ravine. A Mountain Club of SA Search and Rescue team, already out on training, was dispatched and a rescuer abseiled nearly 70 metres before finding him stranded on a ledge, very much alive and very unwilling to cooperate.

Additional resources were called in, including a specialist from the K9 Search and Rescue Association of South Africa. James Smart from K9 Search and Rescue said the team already on scene had done well to calm the terrified dog, but getting close remained a challenge.

“Every time we moved too close, he became more frightened. We were concerned that in a panic he might jump or fall from the ledge,” said Smart.

The breakthrough came courtesy of an unlikely rescue essential: Woolworths liver pâté, used to disguise a natural calming medication. “No dog has ever refused Woolies liver pâté,” said Smart. With Pepper beginning to relax, the team moved in, draped jackets over him and secured him in a well-ventilated rescue backpack. He registered his displeasure with a quick nip to one team member before being carefully hauled up the cliff face.

By 04:35 on Thursday morning, Pepper, Erwin and the rescue teams were safely off the mountain. The operation had taken eight hours from the moment Pepper was reached on the ledge.

Home

Pepper is now home and recovering well, after a proper meal with seconds, a bath and a long sleep. Nicole described his first hours back as filled with the small signs that he knew he was home, running laps around the house, pulling out every toy and sniffing every familiar corner.

She said the family’s gratitude extended to every person who played a part.

“One evening my dad said something I’ll never forget: ‘Even when we were losing hope, the people supporting us never did. They just wouldn’t give up.’ Those words perfectly describe every single person who walked this journey with us.”

“You didn’t just help bring a dog home. You carried a grieving family through one of the hardest chapters of our lives.”

Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) is a network of government agencies and civilian volunteer organisations that partner in search and rescue. Emergency contact: 021 937 0300.

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