SA Company Steps Up to Cover Hero Dog Kei’s Surgery Bills
An online South African insurance company has stepped up to pay for hero dog Kei’s medical bills. Kei, who was adopted last year from the Boksburg SPCA, has become a household name in South Africa since he helped save his human family from tragedy when their Benoni home was traumatically broken into by two armed […]
An online South African insurance company has stepped up to pay for hero dog Kei’s medical bills. Kei, who was adopted last year from the Boksburg SPCA, has become a household name in South Africa since he helped save his human family from tragedy when their Benoni home was traumatically broken into by two armed burglars ten days ago. (Read about the horrific home invasion here.)
The company – dotsure.co.za – has pledged to cover the surgery bills for the “lionhearted canine protector” because the Malinoi cross showed “she is much more than just man’s best friend when she took on a violent armed robber despite being shot in the face, saving her owners’ lives in an extraordinary act of bravery. Even with a severely shattered jaw, the little dog desperately tried to alert the neighbours by pacing up and down at their gate. When she failed to get their attention, she sought help further afield.”
Like South Africans nationwide, Dotsure was so moved by Kei’s love and devotion that the pet insurer has undertaken to settle the veterinary hospital bills for several procedures and reconstructive surgery on her jaw following the shoot-out at her family’s Benoni home in the early hours of 3 October this year.
The Lamonts adopted Kei from the Boksburg SPCA last year – and it was the SPCA the distraught family called for assistance when they found their canine hero with a shattered jaw and top molars, severely injured tongue and other shrapnel injuries after the harrowing home invasion. She couldn’t bark because of her wounded jaw.
The family’s other dog, Holly the Biewer Yorkshire terrier, was, distressingly, killed by the attacker, after a traumatic firefight.
After the incident, Kei was rushed to an after-hours vet where she was stabilised, scanned and operated on. She was then referred to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital in Pretoria for further treatment and initial surgery.
She is now home and her wounds have been dressed, but is on medication and is being tube fed. Further scans and treatment await – including the fitting of a plate in her jaw and a possible bone graft. As reported by SAPeople on Wednesday, this is expected to come to around R60 000.
And now… dotsure.co.za has said it will foot the bill.
“When we heard about the ordeal the Lamont family went through and Kei’s brave actions to save them, despite her own serious injuries, we simply could not stand back – we knew we needed to step in and help,” says dotsure.co.za chief operating officer David Roache.
He said “we know that pets are more than animals – they’re family. We’re deeply moved by this little dog’s heroism. The Lamonts have been part of our pet insurance family since 2017 and, because we care about our family, we felt that the least we can do is to foot the bill for Kei’s care.”
The company, which says it is passionate about animals, says “Kei is getting the best treatment, and we look forward to partnering with the Lamonts on Kei’s journey, hopefully back to full health.”
Sarah Lamont, Kei’s dog parent (who had set up a Backabuddy page to try raise the funds), said: “It’s so reassuring to know that people can be so wonderful and kind. Thank you to dotsure.co.za for making it so much easier for our family to recover from this traumatic incident and for proving that humans actually are good, after all.”
Dotsure Limited is a licensed non-life insurer and authorised financial services provider. They’re also very kind!