Watch: Cooper the pitbull already new owner’s ‘little shadow’

Following an horrific ordeal, abused pitbull Cooper was finally welcomed into a loving home in Hermanus on Thursday 20 February.

Suné Human, 24, wrote what the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa (AWS) deemed a “compelling e-mail” to adopt Cooper. 

The one-year-old Cooper had his ears hacked off in Mitchells Plain in January. As if that wasn’t horrific enough, the perpetrator sewed his ears back onto his head. 

When AWS head of communications and resource development Allan Perrins received Cooper, his head and ears were stained with blood. AWS took to social media the same day to describe what had happened to the innocent dog and piles of adoption letters subsequently flooded Perrins’ office. 

One such e-mail, from Human, was one of the first to arrive on his desk. Perrins, at the time, told TheSouthAfrican.com that he thought Cooper and a lady in Hermanus would be a “match made in heaven” — and that it was. 

Cooper’s new owner: ‘We’ve both been through trauma’

Speaking to Human, she said she still can’t believe she got to be Cooper’s mom. She said a friend showed her the post on social media about an abused pitbull. She said she got home from work that day still thinking about him. 

“I laid on my bed, thinking about him. The next day; rescuing pitbulls kept popping up on my Facebook,” she said. 

Human said she understood that Cooper had been through such a difficult time and she said she had too. 

“We’ve both been through trauma, so we would make good companions for one another,” she said lovingly. 

Taking all of the above as signs, Human went on to e-mail Perrins. 

Adoption day 

After Cooper made an astonishing recovery at AWS, Perrins drove the pitbull all the way to Hermanus on 20 February to find the love he was denied.

When Cooper jumped out of the van and Human laid eyes on him for the first time, she said she “wanted to cry”. 

“He was so loving and so happy and I got the opportunity to be his mom,” she said.  

Watch: Cooper arrives at his new home

When asked on Friday how their first night together went, Human said it went very well. Cooper took to his new environment like a duck to water. 

“He just wanted to cuddle all the time. He wants to sit around and touch you all the time. He even climbed into my bed because he wants love,” she said. 

“I think he’s trying to connect with me, he’s like my little shadow that follows me around everywhere,” she added. 

Perrins said: “This is going to be one very spoilt pup”.