Love is a Verb
Love isn’t just a feeling—it’s an action. It’s the force that makes our SPCA Inspectors brave enough to step into the darkest places, where suffering hides behind closed gates and lives in heavy chains. Love is what gave Jack a second chance.
Jack had never known kindness. He had never felt the gentle touch of a caring hand or the comfort of a full belly. He had spent his entire life on a chain—a chain that had become so deeply embedded into his neck that it became part of him. Emaciated, covered in ticks and with a rotting, festering wound, he was trapped in misery, Jack’s life was defined by neglect. Until love stepped in.
Our Inspectors seized Jack under warrant, and refusing to let cruelty have the final say, laid charges against an entire household. In our animal hospital, our vets rushed to free him from the chain that was choking the life out of him and the ticks that were packed into his ears and even his eyes. Removing the chain was only the beginning. Love would have to do the rest.
And it did.
With every passing day, Jack grew stronger—not just in body, but in heart. He learned that hands could offer comfort, not pain. That food would come without fear. That life was more than mere survival. And through it all, Jack never stopped loving. Despite all he had endured, his heart remained open. This is the miracle of dogs—their ability to love, to never lose faith in us, even when we fail them.
And then, love did what it does best—it found a way.
435km away in Mossel Bay, Mrs. June Barter saw Jack and knew he was meant to be hers. Distance didn’t matter. Scars didn’t matter. What mattered was love. She made the long journey to meet him and then again to bring him home, because love knows no limits, no obstacles—only the pull of a heart that recognises another in need.
Today, Jack is more than rescued. He is cherished. He is home. And he is loved, the way he always deserved to be.
This Valentine’s Day, Jack wants you to never forget that love always wins. It rescues. It heals. It transforms. And sometimes, it travels hundreds of kilometers to find its way home.
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at the Cape of Good Hope SPCA—where love is always in action.
To everyone who showed Jack love through a donation—thank you. You made this love story possible! And to every rider taking on the Cape Town Cycle Tour because you know chains belong on bikes, not on dogs Thank YOU! Because of you, love wins.
