A Staffordshire Bull-terrier Puppy
Very Few south Africans haven’t heard of Jock of the Bushveld.
Jock of the Bushveld was a brown Staffie (English Staffordshire Bull Terrier) that belonged to a Percy Fitzpatrick in South Africa during the 1800s. As an ox-wagon transport driver, Fitzpatrick used to take his dog Jock with him on his travels. He would recount his adventures to his children on story-nights and as bedtime stories.
Some of the events in Jock’s life included:
- Jock was the runt of the litter and was saved by Fitzpatrick who adopted the puppy.
- Jock was coerced into fighting a baboon by a gambler and bcame a fighting dog
- Jock his hearing due to an injury.
- Jock was shot because he was accused of killing chickens. He was however not guilty and only defending the
chickens from an intruding canine.
Personally I think this is terrible. It would be terrible even if he did kill the chicken. Dogs have a natural hunting instinct. How selfish and hypocritical of the humans to shoot him for what humans do en masse (killing chickens).
Fitzpatrick’s friend Rudyard Kipling encouraged him to write a book about Jock’s adventures. The book, based on the true story of Jock’s life, was published in 1907 and was very well received. It was also translated into several languages.
A movie based on the book was made in 1986 but some people didn’t like it because it lacked a happy Hollywood ending. Another movie with a happier ending was made in 1995.
The is a statue in honour of Jock in from of the city hall in Baberton, Mpumalanga (South Africa), that was sculpted by Ivan Mitford-Barberton. The Kruger National park reflects on this canine hero and has paid tribute to this famous dog in the form of the The Jock Safari Lodge. Jock also has his own FaceBook fanpage
Jock of the Bushveld is definitely an interesting story. You can find the book online or at any good bookstore. You also might be able to find it at a shop that has secondhand books for sale.
source: Wikipedia
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