26/01/2014
A dog who was rescued from "doggy death row" in South Africa before becoming famous for his tour of the world, has died after being hit by a car in California. There has been outpouring of condolence messages on Oscar's official Facebook fan page, where a notice about his death was posted. Oscar was adopted from the SPCA in Cape Town eight years ago, just a day before he was due to be put down.
In 2009 he and his owner Joanne Lefson embarked on an epic journey round the world to raise money and draw attention to the plight of shelter dogs. During their 36-country 'World Woof Tour,' Ms Lefson took Oscar for walks at Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, and together they went zip-lining in Costa Rica. Their travels were recounted in the 2010 book, 'Ahound the World: My Travels with Oscar,' written by Ms Lefson.
Oscar's journey however came to an end last Friday in San Jose, California, when he was hit by a car. Ms Lefson, who has not yet explained the details of the accident, said Oscar's death "has left a deep void in my heart, and in the world that he so extensively travelled to promote compassion and adoption for his homeless friends everywhere".