Last weekend, a 15-year-old miniature schnauzer hobbled down a busy road in Cape Town, South Africa. The tiny dog’s cataracts blurred his vision, so when a stranger tried to pick him up, he bristled.
The stranger, a local named Tim Shaw, had been driving to the coast with a friend to go surfing when they saw the dog darting between cars.
Shaw pulled over and tried — unsuccessfully — to wrangle the pup. He asked the many day laborers in the area if anyone recognized the schnauzer. They didn’t, but agreed to keep the pup out of the road while Shaw rushed home for supplies to catch the dog.
Several hours and many angry nips later, Shaw arrived home with the dog wrapped in a nightgown in a laundry basket. The miniature schnauzer scarfed down a can of dog food while Shaw gave him plenty of space to decompress.
“He was not interested in touch,” Shaw told The Dodo. “I kind of just sang to him, actually … I just started kind of talking to him, and he kept trying to bite me, but then the bite would get a little bit less vicious.”
The dog’s fur hung off him in thick chunks, which Shaw compared to dreadlocks. “I had dreads,” Shaw laughed. “I know how long it takes to grow a good set of locks.”
By moving slowly and gently, Shaw earned a bit of trust and managed to trim back the matted fur over the course of an afternoon.
“He walked around … prancing like a little show pony,” Shaw said. “As if he could finally, finally feel his weight and not the weight of all that other crap he’d been carrying.”
While grooming, Shaw also uncovered and removed a wire wrapped tightly around one leg, which must have caused the dog significant pain.
The next day during a vet visit, staff informed Shaw that the dog suffered from debilitating arthritis. He also had a microchip — and a family who’d been missing him for 13 years.
Back in 2012, Karnallie the miniature schnauzer was stolen from his home. His family searched for him desperately for six months. Grief-stricken, they ended up adopting three other dogs over the years and were, sadly, unable to take Karnallie back after he turned up in 2025.
Shaw didn’t bat an eye. Karnallie could live with him.
First, Karnallie, now named Rufus, spent several days at the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa (AWS) for observation.
Nursing staff treated his wounds, administered medication for his arthritis and completed a variety of other overdue medical treatments.
Rufus needs a special diet and medication for the rest of his life, and Shaw is more than ready to provide those. He recognizes that Rufus, like everyone, comes with a little baggage and deserves a second lease on life.
“For me, all of this is just God’s creation,” Shaw said. “And if I look at all the things that I’ve been rescued from, it’s really just in response to that.”
Since arriving at his new home, Rufus has been resting up and moseying through Shaw’s garden. He still exhibits some discomfort with human touch, but Shaw understands that building trust takes time.
“He is the most wonderful little dude,” Shaw said. “And he’s home now.”
