ZIMBABWE: SQUEAK, DOG WHO GUARDED MURDERED WHITE ZIMBABWE FARMER TERRY FORD , FINDS A NEW HOME WITH NAOMI RAAFF, FORD' S GIRLFRIEND

Record ID: 779872

  • Title: ZIMBABWE: SQUEAK, DOG WHO GUARDED MURDERED WHITE ZIMBABWE FARMER TERRY FORD , FINDS A NEW HOME WITH NAOMI RAAFF, FORD' S GIRLFRIEND
  • Date: 20th March 2002
  • Summary: SCU PICTURE OF SLAIN FARMER TERRY FORD
  • Embargoed: 4th April 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEAR HARARE / GOWRIE FARM, SOUTHWEST HARARE, ZIMBABWE
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Topics: Crime,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA4QX4DA5LRO8A2X1KFW6WUNKOI
  • Story Text: Squeak, a 14-year-old Jack Russell terrier, recently pictured guarding the body of his murdered white Zimbabwean owner, has been given a new home by the slain farmer's girlfriend.
    A photograph of Squeak, lying curled on a bedspread covering the body of owner Terry Ford, the 10th white farmer to be killed in Zimbabwe's ongoing land grabs, was splashed across South African newspapers on Tuesday (March 19) and prompted calls from readers anxious to learn the dog's fate.
    "The dog would not leave the farmer's body," Meryl Harrison of the Zimbabwe Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said in a statement.
    Harrison said the dog was in Ford's vehicle when he tried to crash through a fence surrounding his homestead in Norton, 40 km (25 miles) west of Harare, in a futile attempt to escape his killers early on Monday (March 18).
    Ford's girlfriend Naomi Raaff has taken Squeak into her care. She said the way Squeak was pictured, curled up next to his owner's dead body, portrayed their relationship while Ford was alive.
    "He (Squeak) was always at his side, always at his side,"
    said Raaff.
    "He (Ford) always asked me that if anything happened to him regarding his illness that I would take care of him which of course I will do," she added.
    Under Raaff's care, Squeak now has a new friend called Bubbles.
    "The other little dog over there is Bubbles and since the last couple of days they've been quite traumatised," said Raaff.
    Raaff spoke about Ford's final moments, and the benefit of having Squeak loyally by his side.
    "And I know that Terry would be so pleased to know how much Squeak was there for him. Because I wasn't there, he was the comfort for him," said Raaff.
    Referring to the death of Ford, Raaff said, "He's going to be a loss to this community".
    Ford was tied up and shot to death by what the farming community said were suspected self-styled war veterans of the 1970s liberation struggle. Police in Zimbabwe said on Tuesday they had arrested four men in connection with the murder.
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