27/05/2026
The short vid of Pothole Pete meeting Judy is in the comments..
On Monday afternoon, Judy received a call from a gentleman named Andrè Rautenbach.
Andrè had been driving down Benoni Road near the agricultural area when he spotted Pothole Pete… a tiny meerkat with the survival instincts of a teaspoon.
Meerkats are constantly targeted for the illegal pet trade because they’re cute.
Pothole Pete has very clearly been hand raised and escaped whatever prison sentence masquerading as a “loving home” he came from….
Thank goodness he did, because his “owners” either didn’t notice or didn’t care that P.Pete was in trouble.
There is an old wound on his head and another under his right eye, but the bigger issue quickly became painfully obvious.
Once we got him home, we did what we usually do:
We watched quietly.
His Movement…
Behaviour…
Body language…
Stress…
Posture..
Well, Pothole Pete immediately started acting like a pensioner trying to rearrange a duvet after three cups of laxative tea.
He repeatedly dragged blankets toward his swollen tummy and paid a lot of attention to his downstairs department.
We watched intake.
We watched output.
And folks…
The plumbing department was filing formal complaints.
At one point P.Pete looked like he was trying to negotiate with his own bladder through interpretive dance!
Very quickly, Pothole Pete was rushed off to Dr. Garith Newby at Selpark Veterinary Clinic.
Dr. Garith immediately started testing and treating P.Pete, who will now spend the next few days absolutely delighting the veterinary staff with the unearned confidence only a meerkat possesses.
We suspect P.Pete has already swept the nurses off their feet, stolen a glove and squirmed into everyone’s hearts.
Time will tell, but we’re quite sure Dr. Garith and his incredible team will iron out P.Pete’s issues and get his urinary system flowing with less drama than a blocked municipal pipeline.
With luck, P. Pete’s PP problems will soon be past.
Once stable, he’ll be returned to Judy’s care for monitoring, rehabilitation, social introduction with other meerkats and eventually… release back where he belongs:
Outside.
Digging holes.
As nature intended.
Huge thanks to Dr. Garith and the Selpark Vet team for always jumping into our emergencies .. without hesitation.
Massive thanks to Andrè who did everything meticulously once finding Pothole Pete! Well done Sir!
This little soul owes you his life!
The long and the short of it..
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again:
The biggest threat to meerkats… is people..
Because apparently some genius somewhere looked at a highly social, wild, burrow dwelling animal with the emotional complexity of a tiny caffeinated mafia member and thought..
“You know what would improve my lounge? A Meerkat.”
Meerkats are indigenous wildlife.
That means..
Permits are required to own them.
Permits are required to breed them.
Permits are required to transport them.
And even more permits are required to sell them.
So what usually happens?
They’re bred (or poached) illegally.
Transported illegally.
Sold illegally.
Kept illegally.
Fact:
For meerkats, companionship isn’t optional.
These are deeply social animals.
Their entire lives revolve around group interaction, communication, grooming, play and cooperative behaviour.
Wildlife is not décor.
It is not entertainment.
And it is not your quirky little conversation piece for Sunday braais.
If you truly love wild animals…
Leave them wild.
